Lisemwalo Lipo
by Kurohane Ookami
Summary: Elina Epps is living a pretty normal life. She's a PA at the local hospital, her best friend is her roommate, and they own their own house. But when her uncle gives her a call and offers her a once in a lifetime opportunity, she leaves everything behind to step into the world of NEST. OC/Ratchet
1. Prologue

_Know thyself, know your enemy. _

_A thousand battles, a thousand victories._

_-Sun Tzu_

-;-

"Yeah, I love you too, dad. Uh huh. I gotta go. Yeah. Bye."

She hung up the phone before going back to bustling around the kitchen, pulling out bowls and cereal boxes. Grabbing the milk from the fridge, she put that on the table before going to the bottom of the stairs.

"_LEON! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE BEFORE I EAT WITHOUT YOU!"_

_"_Coming!"

Elina sighed, holding up three fingers and beginning the customary countdown, her eyes looking skyward.

"_SON OF A STAIR!"_

Elina sighed, running a light mocha hand through her black hair and going to the table to pour herself a bowl of Frosted Flakes. "I know you keep saying you're trying to improve your ninja skills, but really. You should have given up after the three hundredth and fourth time." she said casually, not even looking up as Leon entered the room, muttering curses under her breath.

"I hate those goddamned piece of pickle shit stairs." the brunette informed her.

"That's nice. Eat your cereal."

"Coffee?" Leon asked, searching for her mug.

"On the table."

"I love you, Ellie."

"I know." Elina smirked around a mouthful of cereal.

"Hey, you're grabbing some stuff at the store after work, right?" Leon asked, pouring herself some coffee. "We're running low on bleach."

"Again? I just bought some a couple weeks ago." Elina frowned.

"Sorry. Being a mechanic doesn't exactly mean that I can go to work and _not _get dirty." her friend rolled her eyes. "Little Miss Physician Assistant who never gets dirty."

"I told you what I would rather be doing, but with my record I'll never be able to." Elina sulked. "Stupid Russian asshole."

"Okay, so the liaison thing didn't work out, even though it was never an official thing. You're a PA now. You get paid a ton of money. We own an awesome house. Can you please cheer up?"

"But I screwed up the one career opportunity that I want to pursue!" she whined. "I just had to get along with the Russian, attempt to play nice, yada yada yada. But _noooo_, he decided to grab my _ass!"_

"Y'know, if you weren't so easy to piss off, you probably would have gotten the job." Leon pointed out with her spoon.

"Not helping, Leon."

"Sorry."

"Whatever." Elina checked the clock. "I'm going to go change, and then I'm going to head out. Try not to kill yourself."

"But the stairs make it so easy!"

Elina was about to retort when the phone rang. "I've got it."

"Uh huh." Leon yawned, continuing to shovel cereal into her mouth.

"Hello?"

_"Hello. Is this Elina?" _

"Yes. May I ask who's calling?"

_"Don't tell me you don't remember your own Uncle."_

"Uncle Epps?" Elina gaped. "I thought you were in Diego Garcia!"

_"I am. I'm calling on business."_

"Uncle Epps, is it possible to call you back later? I've got to get to work." Elina half whined, checking the clock again. She wasn't going to make it to the hospital for her shift if she took this call.

_"Sorry sweetheart."_

Elina sighed, knowing that it was going to take a lot of convincing on her part later on. "Alright. I'm listening."

_"I thought you would say that." _he replied, smugness in his tone.

"Don't start. If I get fired, I'm going to hunt you down personally." Elina snapped half-heartedly.

_"So, where are you working right now?"_

"I'm a PA at the hospital."

_"A what now?"_

"Physician Assistant." Elina explained, ignoring the raised brows from Leon and waving her off.

_"Ah, yes. Now I remember." _her uncle muttered to himself. _"Good thing we got our boys to call in and say that you're unavailable for today due to a personal matter."_

Elina's jaw dropped. "So, in other words, you decided to screw around with me?" she growled.

"_Yes?" _

"Ugh." Elina groaned, sitting back down at the table. "So help me God, Uncle Epps, if you don't start telling me why the hell you're calling, I'm hanging up this phone."

_"Hold on a sec. I've got to make sure I'm on a secure line." _

She raised a brow at faint voices that seemed to be yelling at each other loudly. It raised further when she suddenly heard her uncle's voice boom, silencing both of the other voices. A couple of seconds later, he was back on the phone.

"So, a secure line, huh? Sounds like you just wanted to go yell at a couple of poor recruits."

_"Trust me Ellie, they can take care of themselves." _Epps grumbled. "_They're like a bunch of four year olds."_

"Focus, Uncle Epps."

_"Yeah, yeah. So, I've been charged with hunting down a new liaison for NEST. And, since I know you've always wanted to be one..." _

"You called me." Elina perked up. "That's sweet, Uncle Epps, but I have absolutely no experience whatsoever in being a liaison. And I kind of have a record."

_"For what?" _

"Well, a couple years ago, I was being considered for a liaison position with some Russian guy, but he groped my ass." Elina grumped. "I ended up breaking his nose."

_"Atta girl!" _

"Uncle!" Elina protested, though there was a smirk on her features.

_"So, what do you say? Even if it turns out that you're rejected for the liaison position, there's still a lack of a medical officer."_

"You've already sent my resignation, haven't you?"

_"You know me well."_

"Which flight am I catching?"

_"In one hour, catch the flight to Baghdad. We'll send someone to meet you there. He'll bring you to Diego Garcia."_

"Alright. See you soon."

_"Love you."_

Elina hung up, feeling a little lightheaded from the information her uncle had unloaded on her in a short amount of time.

"Ellie, what the hell was that all about?" Leon asked, her eyes wide. "Resignation? Where are you going? And why were you talking about liaison work?"

"That was my uncle. I've been offered a job over in Baghdad to work for the military. Apparently the military has been considering me as a new liaison." Elina explained, running her hands through her hair.

"And you accepted." Leon sulked. "And you're leaving me."

"Leon, I'll call you every day, and I'll video-chat all the time, and we'll gossip about the hot army men that keep flirting with me, and we'll keep tabs on your fail ninja skills.."

"Fine." Leon grinned, back to being her usual self. "Go for it, girl. I know you've been waiting for this kind of offer for years. Just don't forget who your bestest friend in the whole world is when you go and get all those awards for saving the world from the Russians."

"Thank you Leon!" Elina squealed, launching herself at her best friend. "I'll make sure to send you my half of the bills every month."

"Go pack." Leon shooed. "Knowing you, you're catching the next flight out."

"Yep!" Elina chirped, making a mad dash for the stairs. Silently, she was already making her lists of what she would need. Which, in total, amounted to pretty much all the clothing she owned, her bank accounts full, and her passport and various other papers.

In an hour, she was heading out to Baghdad!


	2. Jet Lag

_Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness._

_Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness._

_Thereby you can be the director of the opponent's fate._

_-Sun Tzu_

-;-

Fig was wondering how the hell he'd been wrangled into doing this job when he could be back at Diego Garcia enjoying his day off from duty.

Lennox and Epps had cornered him after Epps had gotten off the phone from someone he knew back in the States who was a potential liaison and/or medical officer. However, he wasn't releasing any names of their potential recruit until she arrived, and from what Skidz and Mudflap had been gossiping about, it was someone that he knew quite well. But they weren't releasing any information either. Which was a little suspicious, considering those two were almost always mouthing off about one thing or another.

Sighing, he muttered about 'loco hermanos' under his breath.

As a handful of people came through the doorway, Fig examined each critically. Luckily, though he didn't have one of the signs that the other people held, he was wearing his army jacket over a white t-shirt. Hopefully it would be enough of a giveaway for the woman who would be getting off the plane.

-;-

Elina felt like crap when she finally managed to get off the plane.

There had been hardly anyone on the flight, thank goodness, but she hadn't gotten much sleep because of the turbulence that had occurred somewhere over the ocean. Since then, she'd been steadily getting more exhausted, and more than a little irritated at her uncle for making her go through something like that.

As she was the last person to get off, she was met with a taller man with a shaved head and the beginnings of a goatee. His skin showed signs of being out in the sun, and his dark eyes were narrowed slightly in thought. The only real clue that he was with the military was his jacket.

Hesitantly, she began walking towards the man, hoping that she wan't going to accidentally approach the wrong guy and make herself look like an idiot.

-;-

Blinking, Fig realized that there was a woman walking towards him. A rather attractive woman, to be more specific. She almost resembled one of his favorite actresses, Sanaa Lathan. Same skin color, same kind of build..

A sudden cry of alarm gave him about half a second to prepared himself before solid flesh connected with him, bowling him over.

"Oh _shit_, I'm sorry!" the woman apologized, scrambling to remove herself from his person. "It's been a _fucking _long day, and I don't even know who the _hell _I'm supposed to meet here, and I'm going to _kill _my uncle when I see him!"

Fig felt a little sorry for the poor girl. She looked exhausted, and bags were forming under her green eyes.

"Uh, you're Elina, right?" he asked warily, helping her to her feet. The name's Jorge Figueroa, but everyone calls me Fig."

"Elina Epps." she replied, offering a hand.

"Your uncle's name wouldn't happen to be-"

"Robert, yes." Elina finished for him, hefting her messenger bag higher on her shoulder. "I'm his brother's daughter."

"I never knew that that _loco _boy had a brother." Fig commented, grabbing the suitcase that had been sent flying during her ungraceful fall. "Or a niece."

Elina smiled gratefully at him as he began to lead her out of the airport, getting through security quickly. "Not a lot of people do. Uncle Epps isn't exactly the kind of person who talks about his family. Especially not since my mom died."

Fig didn't say anything, focusing on getting the hell out of the airport and getting to the private plane that was waiting at the Baghdad military base. Luckily, NEST was on good terms with the Baghdad military, and usually used their private runway when they needed to get the Autobots to Europe.

"So, where exactly _is _Diego Garcia?" Elina asked as Fig loaded her suitcase into the back of the black rental car.

"A half hour drive and then a six hour flight."

"You're kidding."

"I'm as serious as a heart attack."

"Remind me to kill my uncle when I see him."

-;-

_Six hours later.._

Epps had been growing more and more fidgety over the last ten hours.

Lennox was beginning to get suspicious at the man's behavior. He'd been staring at the clock for the last hour, and barely even blinked as Sideswipe roared by after Skidz and Mudflap, screaming that he was going to 'rip the slagging glitches into scrapmetal'.

When he finally remembered that the new recruit was going to be showing up, it was sudden realization that dawned on him. Someone he knew, someone from America. "Hey, Epps. Spill it. I know there's something else behind all of this."

Epps sighed, glancing up at his friend before smirking. "I can never hide anything from you for too long."

"Damn straight." Lennox rolled his eyes. "We've been through a war. I seriously doubt that there's much else you could possibly hide from me."

"Hold onto that thought." Epps said, checking his phone. "Fig's got our recruit. They're coming onto the runway now."

-;-

Elina was dozing when she was shaken awake. Automatically, she jolted awake, blinking at Fig.

"We're touching down in two." he offered in explanation. "Thought you'd like to be awake while we touch down."

"Thanks." Elina smiled. "I'd love to be awake to sock my dear uncle in the face and possibly break his nose for the nightmare I call a plane ride."

Fig chuckled, lightly punching the woman in the arm. "I like you, _chica. _You got a lot more spunk than most of these army women."

"Why thank you. I take pride in the fact that I am a sassy black woman who don't take no bullshit." Elina snorted before yawning.

The plane suddenly shifted in the air: Elina felt as it began to come down from the sky in a gentle wave. Sighing, she waited for the familiar feel of wheels touching down on concrete.

Now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen her Uncle Epps in years. He'd always been involved in some military mission of some kind, and didn't want to endanger his family by having a lot of contact with them. Then again, her entire family was like that. Her mom had been a soldier at one point, and she had been damned proud of it. Not only that, but she was one of a handful of white women that had married into a black family. Her grandparents on her mother's side had basically told her that if she wanted to stay a part of their family, she had to ditch the black man. Obviously, she hadn't.

"And now, for the grand finale." Fig muttered to himself in amusement as the back of the plane opened, revealing a gigantic building and a heated runway. "Welcome to Diego Garcia, Miss Epps. One of the fucking sandiest places on Earth."

-;-

Epps had to practically be restrained as the back of the plane opened up, revealing two figures.

"Jesus Epps. What's going on?" Lennox questioned, putting a hand on the male's shoulder firmly.

_"UNCLE EPPS!" _

Epps grinned, shrugging off Lennox's hand to step forward and nearly get tackled to the ground by a blur of brown and yellow. "I missed you, sweetheart." Epps grinned at his niece, hugging her close. "Grown into a fine woman, too."

"That's not all." Elina winked before punching her uncle in the face. "I'm also a kickboxing champion."

"What was that for?" Epps gasped through his now bleeding nose.

"For making me go on a seventeen hour flight to get here." she replied sweetly, getting to her feet and offering the man a hand to get up. "Which, I have to say, was just lovely."

Lennox, at the moment, was in shock. As were half of the soldiers who'd been a little too curious about who the new recruit was.

"Epps..has a niece?"

"I'm Elina Epps. It's a pleasure to meet you." Elina spoke to Lennox, her mocha skin gleaming under the harsh sunlight as she offered a slim fingered hand to the Major. "I can assume that you're close to my uncle?"

"Correct." Lennox chuckled, taking it and giving it a good shake. "Epps has been keeping quiet about your arrival. We've all been worried about him."

Elina shrugged, her black hair moving with the motion. "Wouldn't surprise me in the least." she said casually. "Now, Uncle Epps, let me see your nose."

"Why? You already hit me once!" the black man protested, yelping as his niece grabbed his shirt and pulled him close.

"Because I can tell you right now if I broke it or not, you crybaby." she rolled her eyes, tilting Epps' face to get a look at it. Gently, she ran her fingers along the edges of it, which Epps swore at, before wiping off the blood on her jeans. "It's not broken. Just bleeding. You should know the drill with a bloody nose."

"I don't know about you, but I like her already." Donnelly commented to Fig, who snickered in reply.

-;-

"Alright. This will be your room." Lennox said, opening the door for the younger woman. "It's close to the infirmary and the hangar, so you'll be right at home here if you're picked to be either our liaison or our new medical officer."

Elina took in the simple room. It was steel, as was the rest of the building, with a simple bed and dresser, along with a small bathroom that included a toilet and a sink.

"The women's showers are in the east wing, were most of the other women are staying." Lennox explained as she asked. "So just ask one of them if you get lost. Most of them are pretty friendly."

"Thank you, Major Lennox." Elina smiled gratefully. "I think I'll try to catch up on my sleep and get rid of this jetlag, and then get a tour?"

"It sounds like a plan. I'll send someone to get you for dinner." Lennox smiled back, closing the door behind him.

-;-

"Ellie! Time to get up!"

She groaned, rolling over. "Uncle Epps, I swear to God, if I open my eyes and find you there, I am going to punch you again."

"Good thing I'm not in the room then, isn't it?"

"Ugh. Why did I decide to come here again?" she muttered into her pillow, the sounds muffled.

"Because you have the chance to get a dream job in the military?" Epps offered. "Anyway, if you want dinner, I can get it for you."

"Please." Elina yawned, waving him off before going back to sleep.


	3. Premonition

_If you are far from the enemy, _

_make him believe you are near._

_-Sun Tzu_

-;-

Elina realized she'd missed dinner the next morning when Epps returned, bringing a tray of scrambled eggs and juice.

"Come on, honey, time to wake up. You've got a busy day."

"No." the muffled reply came from the mound of blankets that were balled up around her.

"Elina. Get up."

"No."

"Elina Rosa Epps, get yourself _out _of bed." Epps growled, yanking the blankets off of the woman hiding below them. "You have work to do."

"I'm going to castrate you. Painfully, and with great pleasure."

"If you can get up, you can try, kid." Epps retorted, leaving the room, and the door, wide open.

"I hate you, Uncle Epps." Elina half snarled, rolling off of the bed and onto the freezing floor. Which worked like a hot darned in getting her up. "Shit. Shit, shit shit shit shit." she hissed, scrambling to her feet with a shiver. "That is _fucking _cold."

-;-

After grabbing a pair of jean shorts and a yellow tank top, Elina made her way towards the sound of laughter and clattering dishes, to where she assumed was the mess hall. She was still half asleep, and unfortunately for the men and women in the hall, she wasn't a morning person.

When Epps caught sight of her, he waved her over, and she nearly collapsed next to Fig on the table.

_"Bueno dias, chica." _Fig greeted.

"Fig, I advise you go get me coffee before I caught permanent physical damage to your face." she growled, burrowing her head into her arms.

Fig, along with half of the men at the table, looked to Epps for help. Said man shrugged.

"She's not a morning person. And I advise you do what she says. Shit goes down if she doesn't get coffee."

"Shut it, _Robert_." Elina snarled, throwing the nearest object available at her uncle. Coincidentally, it was a fork.

Epps dodged the flying utensil, batting it aside with an air of practice. "Nice try, sweetheart."

Elina flipped him the bird before her head snapped up, eyes honing in on the coffee Fig held in his hands. In a split second, she'd snatched it from his hands and practically chugged it, not even flinching at the taste or the temperature. Then she held the cup out to the shocked male.

"More."

Fig, too startled to argue, did as he was told, while Elina shook her head from side to side for a moment. "Ugh. That was not the best coffee I've had."

"See what coffee can do, folks?" Epps asked the gathered soldiers at the table. "If we denied her coffee for a week, the Decepticons would be running for the hills in no time."

"The what's now?" Elina raised a brow, taking the second cup of coffee from Fig in a much more civil manner, even muttering a thank you.

"The group we're up against." Epps shrugged. "They're pretty nasty."

"Huh." she muttered, going back to drinking her coffee at supersonic speeds. "So, how receptive is everyone of a prank?"

"We're used to them." Epps said before noticing the look on his niece's face. "Why do I get the feeling that you're going to do something that's going to make everyone a little suspicious?"

"Probably because I am." she replied impishly, grinning at him.

"I'm going to warn Lennox." Epps sighed.

"Warn me about what?" said man said, appearing from seemingly out of nowhere.

"Uncle Epps, say one word and I will tell _everyone _about the family Christmas of 2000. The incident with the cat and the whipped cream, if I recall correctly."

"You wouldn't." Epps narrowed his eyes.

"Want to bet?" Elina replied innocently. "I haven't gotten my daily dose of caffeine yet. Anything could happen."

"When did you learn the art of blackmail?" her uncle questioned, sulking.

"When I was left alone for three hours with boredom and a laptop." she replied perkily. "Hey, Fig...can you go get me more coffee? Pretty please?"

Fig, still not wanting to bring the wrath of the mocha skinned woman down upon him, nodded, getting back up for the third time in five minutes for a refill, wondering how much freaking caffeine this woman needed to function properly. Or even if she did function properly. Wasn't there something about too much coffee stunting growth?

"So, dear uncle of mine, I'm afraid that even if you do warn the wonderful people of the army, one way or another, it will happen. Even you should remember this by now." Elina simpered. "And now, since I'm sure that everyone at this table is curious about the family Christmas of 2000..."

_"NO!" _Epps screeched, trying to climb over the table to stop her.

-;-

"-And then we had to call the fire department for back-up because old Uncle Epps got stuck in the chimney with the cat!" Elina gasped, trying to tell the story through her laughter. "And they asked us what was wrong, and we said, 'There's a black man trying to rescue Santa Claws!'"

Donnelly, Fig, and Lennox were by far the loudest in their laughter. Elina's storytelling event had drawn a rather large crowd, both because of the fact that word had spread about her being Epps' niece, and the fact that she was telling embarrassing stories about their favorite black man.

"Epps! I never knew you had it in you!" Lennox chuckled, leaning against Fig for support.

Epps had buried his head in his arms after the first word, and hadn't moved since. "Elina, how could you? I thought it was never to be spoken of again!"

"Was it?" she tilted her head. "Funny, I don't recall you ever saying something like _that_."

He groaned, the sound echoing off of the metal table. "_Now _I remember why I don't come back home for Christmas."

"I love you, Uncle Epps." she replied dutifully, earning more laughter from the table.

"Hey, Lennox, I think she's a keeper." Donnelly grinned, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. "She's got great people skills."

"Other than the fact that I'm not a morning person, sure." Elina shrugged, discarding the remainder of her fifth cup of coffee to the side. Sated, she relaxed, grinning around at the men. "So, what's next?"

"Well, there's still that tour." Lennox mentioned.

"Please." she smiled politely at the Major. "That would be lovely."

"Epps, I want to see you training the newbies with 'Hide in an hour." Lennox barked before winking at Elina. "Any slacking and I will unleash your niece upon the men."

"How would that be a bad thing?"

"I still have the story about the seagull..." Elina adopted a thoughtful expression. "You know, that time when I was five and we went to the beach-"

Epps smacked his hand over Elina's mouth. "You win." he scowled. "I'll round them up. But if those twins step _one _toe out of line..."

"Just get 'Hide to use them as target practice." Lennox deadpanned. "He keeps on saying how he needs an actual target to fire at _other _than the rocks."

"Point.." Epps mused, an evil look coming into his eyes. "Better get to work then. Those damned twins are probably already riling Sides up."

"Good luck." Lennox said before leading Elina away. "He's gonna need it."

-;-

_Forty-five minutes later..._

"And this is the hangar." Lennox said, evidence of a smirk in his tone as he led Elina into the gigantic room.

Her jaw dropped.

Sexy. Sleek. Cars. _Everywhere_.

Having been the daughter of a sportscar fanatic, Elina knew what the difference was between practically every expensive vehicle there was out there.

"I think I just died and went to heaven." she whispered, her green eyes wide, trying to take in the beautiful cars before her. "Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Concept..." she murmured, suddenly gone from Lennox's side. Reverently, she gently touched the hood, feeling the smooth metal beneath her hand. "And a Camaro...and a Chevrolet Volt.."

Lennox grinned as he noticed the Stingray visibly shudder under the woman's hand before he stepped up and patted Sideswipe's hood. "It's okay, Sides. Just wait a couple more minutes."

He could almost feel the displeasure radiating from the vehicle, and decided it would be wise to remove Elina before she did something that she would probably regret later. Although he had no idea where she was...considering she'd gotten under Bumblebee's hood and was staring at the motor almost as if it were a God.

"Elina..we're supposed to meet back in the training hangar." he sighed, walking over and grabbing her by the back of her shirt.

"Do I really have to leave?" she whined, reaching out to touch the cars. "I could live in here."

"But you're not going to. We need to discuss your possible application to be a liaison or medical officer with Ratchet and Optimus."

"Who and who?" Elina gave him a blank stare.

"You haven't met them yet. But that's why we need to head over to the training hangar. So we can talk about it."

"Ohhhhh." she blinked. "Okay. Why didn't you say so in the first place?"

Lennox had a feeling that this was going to be a _very _long day.

-;-

"Very good. Now, 'Hide, Ratchet, please demonstrate which areas are vulnerable on a 'Con." Epps, dressed in his usual training attire, stated. "And please, 'Hide, don't attempt to shoot the cannons this time."

Ironhide shuddered as 'the Hatchet', as some called him, approached, the tension in his cannons visible to even the farthest soldiers watching. "Slagging organics." he grumbled, flinching when Ratchet's fingers probed into the back of his neck around the delicate wiring.

"Don't you dare offline me again." he muttered, growling out a curse when a finger dug a little too forcefully into a wire.

"Then don't make comments like that." Ratchet replied neutrally before holding out a colorful wire that had an odd blue hue to it. "Now, a Decepticons vital points are located within these wires. They carry Energon, which is necessary for all Cybertronians to survive. Without it, we offline."

The soldiers murmured among themselves at the news, all of them soaking in the information. After all, this was their only chance to learn exactly how to offline a Decepticon. After this, well, the usual practice. Which entailed a lot of bruising and egos deflating. Especially now that Ironhide was in a bad mood from the medic rummaging around in places that he didn't like being touched.

"So, get into your assigned groups. Optimus, you're with Group Four. Ratchet, Group Two. Ironhide, Group One. And Skidz, Mudflap...you're with Group Three. _If _you can manage _not _to fight." Epps barked out, relieved to see that today's lesson would at least remain in order. Usually, without Optimus to keep an eye on things, all hell would break loose if Lennox wasn't the one to be teaching the training session. Mostly due to the twins, who were always wrestling or shooting off their cannons where they shouldn't and causing problems for Autobots and humans alike.

Speaking of humans..Epps wondered where his ever so lovely niece and his best friend had gotten to. Checking his clock, however, he realized that they were probably going to be right on time.

Sighing, he got into his assigned group, which, luckily enough, was with Optimus this round. He really didn't want to be the poor recruits under Ironhide's care at the moment, and judging by the looks Ratchet was sending Ironhide, his group was going to be suffering as well. The only ones who were behaving for once, amazingly, were the twins, though they were a bit rougher than they should be.

Poor Fig, however, wasn't so lucky. He was trapped under Ironhide's cannons, and no matter what he did, the 'Bot was refusing to let him up. He was yelling something that sounded suspiciously like a curse of some kind to the large mech, who in turn started swearing right back.

Epps rubbed his temples. Other than the approaching introduction of his niece to the Autobots, it was just another day in Diego Garcia.


	4. Introductions

_Appear weak when you are strong, _

_And strong when you are weak. _

_-Sun Tzu_

o-o-o-o

"What's that sound?" Elina tilted her head to one side curiously, her brows furrowed. "It almost sounds like...cannons."

Lennox allowed himself a small grin at the slight confusion he could see on Elina's face, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Don't worry. It's only 'Hide."

"Who?" she asked blankly.

"Ironhide. You'll be meeting him soon enough." Lennox said cheerily, leading her farther down the hall. "I should warn you though, he's a grumpy old guy."

"And you trust him enough to operate weaponry?" Elina asked a bit sarcastically. "Sounds like a great plan."

"He's the best we've got." Lennox shrugged.

There was silence for another several minutes, until they came to a large hangar, which was currently half open. The sounds of yells and explosions were echoing loudly, and Elina flinched, wondering just how her hearing was going to fare against the roaring of whatever was going on in the hangar.

"Elina, before we go in, I'm going to ask you to keep your mind ope-" Lennox began.

Before anything else could be said, the roar of an engine blocked out everything else, and Elina watched with great surprise as the Stingray from earlier came screaming out of the door, fishtailing as it spun out and shot past the startled male and female before spinning back around and parking itself behind Lennox.

"_I'LL OFFLINE THAT SON OF A GLITCH! I'LL RIP OUT HIS SPARK AND CRUSH IT BENEATH MY FOOT! THAT SLAGGING PIECE OF RUST ISN'T GOING BE USABLE AS SCRAP METAL WHEN I'M THROUGH WITH HIM!" _

Elina's eyes widened as the hangar door nearly exploded away, and she found herself staring straight down the barrels of two gigantic cannons. Which just so happened to be attached to a gigantic pair of arms. Which, in turn, was attached to a giant fucking _robot_.

"Oh, shit." she heard her uncle swear from somewhere close by. "Ironhide, put those damn cannons _away!"_

Elina's ears were ringing. She knew her mouth was probably hanging to about the floor at the moment, but she really didn't care. There was a giant robot aiming weapons that were three times her size at her, and she could feel their heat wafting over her and causing her to sweat more than just a little.

The robot in front of her twitched.

Just enough to cause the usual reaction of someone who has just seen something large, dangerous, and downright terrifying.

Her legs gave out from underneath her, sending her to the floor. The strangled scream that came out of her throat next had everyone cringing, including Ironhide.

"Shut that femme up!" he snarled, putting his cannons away so that he could cover his ears. Sensors. Things.

"What the fuck is going on!?" Elina screeched, looking at her uncle and Lennox. "What is that thing!?"

"An Autonomus Robotical Organism. Autobot for short." Epps supplied, moving over to attempt to calm his niece down.

Keyword: Attempt.

Said woman was currently sputtering in some kind of language that Epps rolled his eyes at before replying, which kind of startled everyone. If it was one thing they didn't peg Epps for, it was the ability to speak any language other than English.

Obviously, the conversation they were now having involved Ironhide, who had crossed his arms and was watching the scene unfold before him with narrowed optics, due to the fact that Elina was gesturing wildly in his direction. The Stingray, at this point, had revved the engine lightly in a question, to which Lennox shook his head.

"Sides, now is _not _a good time." he murmured out of the side of his mouth, knowing full well that the mech could hear him. "Looks like your newest stunt is causing some permanent damage to your possible liaison."

Sideswipe sagged on his frame, knowing that he was in trouble. If Ironhide didn't get him first, Optimus and Epps would be next in line. And he was _not _going to be able to get his way out of this one easily.

-;-

It took a good half hour, but Elina did calm down enough to actually have a conversation. Of sorts.

"I must be dreaming." Elina muttered, rubbing the side of her head. "I'm dreaming. Any minute now, Leon is going to come banging on my door and yell that I'm late for work, and all of this is just my imagination."

However, when she closed her eyes and reopened them, everyone was still standing there, looking at her with vague amusement. A little concern thrown in for good measure.

"This isn't a dream." she whimpered.

"Glad you're finally getting with the program!" Epps said cheerily, patting her on the back. A second later, he was on the ground, holding his nose, which had been reattacked by the violent female. Blood seeped through his fingers, and he groaned.

"She gets that from her father, alright." he hissed, gingerly prodding at the flesh. "Her mother was the nice one."

"I'm standing right here, Uncle Epps." Elina snorted, crossing her arms. "And I am completely willing to hit you again."

"Okay." Lennox intervened, sensing that Epps was going to get into a lot more trouble if he continued to run off his mouth. "Optimus and Ratchet are waiting for us in the hangar, and I'm sure you're probably wondering about a lot of things, Elina."

Epps shot his friend a grateful look, which was ignored, and Lennox gently led Elina into the hangar.

The hangar, at this point, had been emptied of all soldiers and 'bots except for Optimus and Ratchet, and said Autobots were in their alt-form so as to not panic the poor woman any further.

"Uh..." Elina blinked at the seemingly empty hangar, expecting to see more of the twenty foot tall robots. But, only a SAR Hummer H2 and a Peterbilt 379 were parked there.

Venting softly, Ironhide went over to the custom painted Peterbilt 379 and rapped his knuckles on the hood. "Up you get, Prime. The femme has already seen the bipedal form."

"Hold on." Elina held up her hands suddenly. "The 'Autobots' are the cars?"

"Yep." Lennox grinned.

"So the Camaro...?"

"Yep."

"And the Stingray?"

"Uh huh."

"I hate my life and _everyone _in it." she groaned.

Optimus' form shifted and whirred, parts moving into new positions and a low hum sounding as he transformed from truck to robot. Elina backed away, wary of any weaponry that may pop out of its arms and aim at her. She wasn't exactly looking forward to any experience like that again.

"Greetings, Elina Epps." Optimus voice said gently, kneeling down in front of the trembling woman. "I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots."

"H-Hello." Elina stuttered.

"It would appear that you have already met my Weapons Specialist, Ironhide." Optimus continued, still in the same gentle tone. "This is the Autobot Medical Officer, Ratchet, and the mech behind you is Sideswipe." he gestured to the Hummer, which slowly shifted into a green and white painted robot- mech, who crossed his arms and pinned her in place with a mildly curious gaze. Turning, she noted that there was a silver mech with wheels for feet and long blades that seemed to be attached to his wrists.

Her heart pounding in her chest, Elina took a deep breath in order to try to calm herself down. Obviously, the medic, Ratchet, noticed.

"Optimus, the femme's spark is at beating at an accelerated rate." he informed the blue and red mech. "Signs indicate that she will enter a 'panic attack'."

"Alright. Everyone out." Epps called, the sound oddly nasal. Though as everyone (everybot) looked at him, they found that he'd shoved tissue up his nose to prevent it from bleeding further. "Ratchet, Optimus, I'll make sure she calms down and bring her by the Med Bay later."

"Very well." Optimus nodded before shifting back into the Peterbilt. "Ratchet and I will await you there."

"Slagging femme." Ironhide grumbled before he transformed back into the GMC TopKick C4500 that everyone around the base had come to fear. With a rev of his engine, he roared out of the hangar, no doubt irritated that he hadn't gotten the chance to blast Sideswipe's aft into the middle of next week.

Sideswipe also transformed back, the Stingray's headlights dimmning as he went into recharge, hopefully praying that his spark would still be in his chassis when he onlined again.

"Ellie, honey, calm down." Epps soothed, pulling his panicking niece into his arms. Rubbing gentle circles in between her shoulder blades, he then pulled back and began to lead her out of the hangar and towards her room.

-;-

Leon glanced around before logging into the computer that the garage had available, quickly opening up a Google search for time zones.

"Alright..." she muttered, clicking on a link and typing in Baghdad. However, she recalled something about Diego Garcia that Ellie had been muttering about as she'd been packing, and re-searched the time zone.

Quickly glancing at the numbers, she deduced that there was a _fourteen hour _time difference between the two of them now. She hummed, leaning back on the stool, and furrowed her brows.

_Okay...it's...7:49 AM here...so it's 9:49 PM there! _

"HAH!" she cried triumphantly, holding up her fingers. "I have conquered the Number Overlord!"

"Uhh...Leon...what are you doing?" Alex deadpanned, shaking his brown hair out of his eyes as he passed with a box full of parts.

"Nothing!" she squeaked, flushing and hiding her fingers behind her back. _Ohhh...crap. Of course he just has to walk by when I'm acting like a complete idiot. _"I'm just looking up time zones...my roommate accepted a job offer over in Baghdad, and I wanted to see when I could work out a schedule to talk to her."

"Alright then." Alex nodded. "I'm just going to go get started on the truck, and you can join me whenever you're done conquering the Overlord of Numbers."

Leon felt her face flame. _Oh yeah, I have got it baaaad. I wish Ellie were here! She'd know what to do!_

-;-

Unfortunately for Leon, Elina wasn't there. And even if she was, she probably wouldn't know what to do. She had her own problems at the moment, and one of them included a minor panic attack.

So, at the moment, Leon was on her own.


	5. Bumblebee

_The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting. _

_-Sun Tzu_

-;-

Elina was still pretty freaked out about the Autobots 'later on'. Which meant that she'd slept in her uncle's room, on the floor.

And so far, judging by the fact that she was still jittery and ignoring all signs of coffee in the vicinity, it was serious.

Lennox narrowed his eyes in thought as he sat next to Epps, the two men trying to come up with a solution that would be put into effect in the next twenty minutes.

"Hey, Epps. Lennox. What're you two up to?" Fig asked casually, though both men noticed that he was glancing over at the mocha skinned woman in concern. "Cause it ain't looking like the little miss over there is adjusting too well to ol' Ironhide sitting over there in the corner."

"_THAT'S IT!" _Epps yelled suddenly, silencing most conversation in the room as everyone craned their necks to see who was making such a racket so early in the morning. Sheepishly, Epps settled down, although his eyes were sparkling with an idea.

"Which one of the Autobots is the least likely to cause someone to panic?" he asked excitedly. Lennox raised a brow, having a feeling that Epps was about to supply the answer himself.

"Bumblebee."

-;-

Elina had such a bad feeling in her gut at the moment. Earlier, her uncle had shouted something about having an idea, and she had a bad feeling that it involved her.

Yay.

Why had she accepted the job without realizing what she was getting into? Oh, that's right. Because her uncle was the best in getting her interested in something without actually telling her any of the need to know details. Like how the liaison business would be with giant robots from outer space.

_If Leon were here... _she shook her head in amusement. Leon would probably be trying to get under their hoods and examine the super advanced engines and parts that made them work.

But that was Leon. She was addicted to engines. She wouldn't care if it was a cat with nine heads. If it was mechanical, Leon automatically loved it.

Too bad Elina wasn't the same way. Sure, she'd grown up in a house where some weird shit went down, but none of that could compare to the situation she'd managed to get herself into this time.

"Elina!" Fig called, grabbing her attention from her thoughts.

Curiously, she tilted her head at the eager expression on his face. What had gotten him so excited?

"Come here!" he beckoned her over to the table he was sitting at. Which, coincidentally, Lennox and her uncle were also seated at.

_Aaaannnddd...the bad feeling just got one hell of a lot worse. _

Slowly, she stood, fixing her knee length capris before warily stepping over to the other table. "Good morning, Sir." she greeted Lennox, who nodded and gave her a small smile of encouragement in return.

Feeling slightly less threatened, she took a seat next to him, knowing that she felt a lot safer near him than she did with her uncle at the moment. He was wearing a grin that made the cheshire cat look like a feeble kitten in comparison.

"Uncle Epps." she greeted shortly, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Oh, don't be such a stick in the mud, lovely niece of mine!" he grinned. "I've got a job for you today."

"Does this job have anything to do with me showing off more skin than appropriate?" Elina retorted, crossing her arms.

"You still remember that? Jesus..." he mumbled, happiness muted for a moment as he sulked. "You're too smart for your own good."

"Love you too." she replied dryly, looking to Lennox for an explanation.

"We're seeing how well you can perform liaison duties with someone you haven't met before." Lennox took over, as Epps was obviously having a litte emotional difficulties at the moment. "You have to stay with them for the entire day."

"What's the catch?"

-;-

"A-are you sure about this?" Elina smiled nervously, gulping as they re-entered the hangar where she'd seen all the shiny sports vehicles the day before. "I mean, I only just got here, right? Don't you want to make sure I settle in properly?"

Lennox stared her in the eye, making her flinch a little as she stared unhappily around the room.

There was only one vehicle in the room, and it just so happened to be the Camaro she'd been admiring the engine on.

_I think someone upstairs is out to get me. _she said to herself internally. _Because usually, my luck isn't this bad. _

"Ellie, I'd like you to meet Bumblebee." Lennox introduced with a small smile, tapping the Camaro's hood with a couple of his fingers before taking a step back, no doubt to accomodate the room needed for the Autobot to transform into his bipedal form.

Elina flinched at the whirring sounds as clicks sounded, and the Camaro was suddenly...an adorable undersized 'bot?

She couldn't help herself. It had to be the huge blue optics that stared at her in curiosity.

_"Awwwwwww!"_ she cooed. "He's so _cuteeee_.."

Bumblebee shifted so that he could level his optics to stare at her while tilting his head, obviously embarrassed, which only made the female coo even more.

"As you can probably tell, Bumblebee is the youngest of our Autobot team next to Skidz and Mudflap." Lennox crossed his arms with a fond smile. He'd had a feeling that Elina wouldn't be able to stop herself from finding Bumblebee cute. A lot of the team at NEST did. Himself included, however much he denied such accusations. Bumblebee had the natural defense of somehow being able to draw someone in with his appearance. He just looked that innocent. Especially with his larger than usual blue optics.

"He's the one I'm staying with today?" Elina asked, warily taking a step closer to the 'bot to get a better look at his face. Okay, so maybe there were a couple flaws to this plan. Elina could think that Bumblebee was the most adorable thing in the entire world, but it didn't mean that she would cope well to being in close proximity to him for an entire day.

"Yep." Lennox nodded. "We figured that you would be the best one to interact with, considering that he can't speak. His voice box was damaged a while back, and he still can't use it."

At the look Elina was shooting him, he explained further. "But it doesn't mean that he can't talk- he uses radio frequencies to communicate with us."

_"The name's Bee." _Bumbleblee introduced, static fuzzing in between a couple of the words. "_Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth."_

Elina vaguely recognized the line from a movie she'd watched a while back, though half of the sentence was missing. If she recalled correctly, the movie title was _The Pride of the Yankees, _and couldn't help the small smile from crossing her features.

"It's nice to meet you too, Bumblebee."

A low whirring chirp came from the 'bot in reply as he slowly held out his hand, palm up. Elina turned towards Lennox questioningly.

Grinning, he nodded towards the Autobot. "He's offering you a ride up."

"Up there?" she pointed to his shoulder in disbelief.

"Uh huh. That's the general idea when a 'bot offers you a hand." Lennox stifled a chuckle. Elina was sure going to be in for a wakeup call when she got around to spending time with the rest of the Autobots, that was for sure. Ironhide almost always invited him to sit on his palm or shoulder while they spent time together, and Skidz and Mudflap...well, they had scared quite a few newer recruits when they suddenly scooped them up and took off, cackling the entire time.

Other than that, Optimus was the only other Autobot that allowed someone to come near his shoulder, as Ratchet was almost always kept busy by the 'glitching piece of rust' Sideswipe. Jolt too, was busy, and as of late had been a rare sight to see around the base, as he was usually out doing missions. There were a few others who sometimes came to Diego Garcia, but for the most part, only about half of the Autobots stayed at Diego Garcia on a regular basis.

"I'm not sure I want to go _that _high." Elina laughed nervously.

Bee cocked his head to one side, optics dimming in disappointment. Lennox had to clap a hand over his mouth to prevent himself from bursting into laughter. Ah, Bee was definitely the best Autobot to win Elina over to their side. He was perfect at the beaten puppy expression, and already, he could see the black haired woman crumbling.

"Fine." she sighed, stepping into his palm.

Bumblebee chirped happily, bringing the woman up to his face and brightening his optics at her before nuzzling her gently against his cheek plating. Lennox could tell that that motion had done it. She relaxed, giggling as the feel of his metal against her bare arms brushed against the cool sensation.

"Well, you two have fun! And Bee, don't do anything too irresponsible."

"_Yes, sir!" _Bumblebee saluted, a cheery whir coming from his vents before he started off, tucking the femme gently in between the indent between his shoulder plate and his helm. Elina settled in, startled that he was so warm. It wasn't something that she would have expected, but it wasn't unpleasant. It was actually quite soothing to hear the low vents that he made every several seconds, which she assumed was his breathing.

His movements were smooth, too, and Elina found the entire situation suddenly hilarious.

She giggled softly, earning a questioning click from Bee. "I'm just startled. And a little surprised." she told him. "I never thought that I would be riding on a giant robot from outer space."

A rumble shook through him, and it took a moment to realize that he was laughing with her. "_Carpe diem. Sieze the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary." _he finally replied, the static faint.

Elina grinned, feeling far more light-hearted than she had twenty minutes earlier.

"I feel the need- the need for speed!" she snickered.

Bumblebee paused at the words before bringing his palm back up. Curious as to what he was doing, she clambered onto his hand, and he lowered her to the ground before taking a step back and shifting back into the yellow and black Camaro in a seamless single movement. A second later, the passenger door opened invitingly, and a low hum came from the engine.

_Maybe I can get used to this.._ Elina thought to herself as she practically ran over and got in, the door closing itself behind her and the seatbelt fastening around her securely.


	6. A Day at the Beach

_Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, _

_while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win. _

_-Sun Tzu_

-;-

_"-Optimism: A man with much to consider." _Bee played over his radio as he and Elina zipped through a narrow hallway.

"He's a..mech, right?" Elina confirmed.

"_Right you are, little lady." _Bee chirped back.

She grinned, leaning back in the rather comfortable leather seat, watching the metal walls pass by at shocking speed. "So, where to, my fine yellow steed?"

_"The girls on the beach, on the beach you'll find them there. In the sun and salty air." _Bee's radio crooned back at her.

"The beach?" Elina raised a brow. "I hope you're planning on taking me back to my room so I can change, in that case."

_"Uh huh Uh huh Uh huh." _

She could have sworn that if he was in his bipedal mode, as he'd explained, he would have been shuttering his optics and venting.

"Alright then. Let's go!" she laughed.

-;-

_"SON OF A WHORE!" _Leon screeched as she made her daily fall down the stairs.

But, there was no answer. There hadn't been one for the last four days. It was a little lonely, actually.

"I hope that sassy girl of mine knows what she's doing, keeping me waiting to hear from her." she grumbled, rubbing her leg as she stood. "Otherwise I'm hopping on the next plane to Baghdad to beat the crap out of her."

-;-

"So, all of the other Autobots are going to be there too?" Elina said nervously, shifting in the seatbelt as Bumblebee sped up to hit a pothole, almost making her scream as they soared a good several feet above ground as his tires threw him through it.

"_Yep." _

"And Uncle Epps?"

_"Uh huh." _

"Oh boy." she groaned. "I have got a bad feeling about this."

An inquiring whir came from the stereo, probably because Bee couldn't find an audio clip that described his confusion or asked for details.

"Uncle Epps isn't like most uncles. Let's just leave it at that for now." Elina said shortly, fixing the yellow bikini top that was under her baggy white shirt. Her jean shorts were good enough for bottoms, so she didn't really have to do much other than to pull her hair back into a high tail. "The last time we went to the beach together was when I was eleven. I am not trusting him anywhere near a dock again."

Bumblebee played a clip of a child laughing.

"Yeah, we'll see who's laughing when I beat your ass getting into the water." Elina sulked before rolling down the window, her dark skin gleaming with sweat. "It's freaking _hot _out."

_"You and me both." _Bee agreed, speeding up once again to hit another pothole.

-;-

As soon as Ellie caught sight of the lagoon, she thought she'd died and gone to heaven.

It was gorgeous. White sands, crystal clear water...and of course, the Autobots and the soldiers scattered all along the beach.

As soon as Bee stopped, Elina was gone.

Stripping off her shirt as she ran, she dove for the water, desperate to get away from all the damned heat.

"Nice to see you too, Ellie!" Epps yelled sarcastically from under one of the many palm trees.

Scowling, she flipped him the bird before diving for deeper water, the cool depths soothing her irritated skin. She wasn't exactly a warm temperature kind of girl. She liked the mild weather, preferred the rain over the sun, and generally disliked the heat. Which was yet another thing she had on her list of why she hated her uncle at the moment.

When she finally came up for air, Bumblebee chirped in what seemed to be relief, before taking a running leap into the air.

_"HOLY SHI-!" _Elina screamed before the giant 'bot hit the water.

A second later, she came up, sputtering, to find a sheepish Bee looking at her apologetically.

_"Oops."_

"If Ratchet catches you you're screwed!" Epps reminded, smirking from his place on his chair. Elina smirked as she suddenly got a wonderful idea on how to get a little bit of payback.

-;-

"Hey, Leon."

Said woman jumped, stifling a shriek as she turned to face Alex. The guy was a freaking ninja! He could sneak up on her and scare the crap out of her before she even knew he was doing it!

"Yeah?" she asked casually, attempting to act like she hadn't been scared within an inch of her life. "Is there something you need?"

"Help." he deadpanned, lifting up a piece of motor. "You're daydreaming again."

"Oops." she blinked, feeling her cheeks heat up. _Oh, and now you've got to go and blush! Can you say obvious? _"Sorry about that. I'm just a little roommate sick is all."

Of all the things she could have said, it had to be the one that made her sound like a complete and utter idiot. As per usual, of course. It was probably the spiked brown hair. Or maybe his green eyes. It could definitely be that that had her sputtering and fawning over him like a lovestruck fool.

_Coming from the Queen herself. _she snorted.

"You know, if you called her, she might actually be able to keep you from panicking." Alex rolled his eyes. "And maybe she'll even save you from the Overlord of Numbers if you're lucky."

"Ugh. Shut up." she groaned. Alex, although her crush, had a bad habit of becoming an asshole at completely random periods of time. Which, now that she thought about it, was probably why she hadn't gained the courage to tell him how much she liked him yet. She was a little wary of what he would do. Or say.

"Okay, okay." he shrugged. "But I do need some help taking the engine apart. It's not as easy with only one person."

Rolling her eyes, Leon grabbed a wrench and followed him back over to the semi, ready to take something apart to rid herself of some of her frustrations.

_Ellie, I hope you're happy._

-;-

As a matter of fact, yes, Elina was happy.

As she and Bumblebee threw Epps into the water, chair and all.

"That was for not telling me how fucking hot it was here!" she snapped, grabbing a waterbottle from one of the many brightly colored coolers lying around. "I mean, come on! A little warning would have been nice!"

"He was a little distracted." Lennox spoke up, though he was grinning as he sipped at his own water. "You up for some volleyball?"

Elina glanced over at the group of males who were beginning to gather, and a sudden grin stretched across her face. "Oh, I am so in." she snickered. An opportunity to taunt men without being told off? Fine by her. "It's been a while since I've gotten to kick some serious ass with my spike."

Bumblebee tilted his head to one side, kneeling to get a better look at the femme.

"Don't worry, Bumblebee, I'll be fine." she assured him. "You want to be my backup?"

_"Who's on first?" _

Elina grinned even wider. "Me, of course."

-;-

Fig was having a very nice day. He was hanging out at the beach, a bottle of water in his hand, plenty of ocean to cool off in if need be..

And a certain very nice looking niece to appreciate.

She was very fit, he noted as she served overhand. She wasn't extremely fit like some of the women around the base, but she had a slender figure. Her hips were just the right size, and her legs were long. Probably a runner, if he had to guess.

"I know what you're thinking, and I don't advise it." Lennox leaned over to whisper loudly.

Jumping, Fig looked over at his commanding officer for a moment, a sheepish grin spreading across his face. "No one said we couldn't look." he shrugged. "Just not to touch."

"You have a point there, my friend." Donnelly agreed as he came up, shaking his hair to rid himself of any extra water that was still lingering. "She is a very nice woman to look at."

"Who's a very nice woman to look at, exactly?" Epps asked, dragging his chair behind him as he began to set himself back up. Although this time, he was soaking wet from his quick trip into the ocean.

"Alise." Fig improvised, staring at said woman.

_That was waayy too close for comfort. _he thought to himself as he watched the volleyball game continue. _He's on to me._

-;-

Bumblebee didn't quite grasp the point of this game, other than the ball needed to get over the net without touching the ground. Or was that the point of the game? These humans were sometimes far too confusing for the poor 'bot to understand.

**.: Optimus to Bumblebee :. **

**.: Bumblebee here :. **he replied cheerily, keeping an eye on his 'charge' of the day.

**.: Status on femme, Designation Elina Epps? :. **

**.: Shows signs of relaxing, sir. :. **Bumblebee replied. **.: Where are the twins and Ratchet? :.**

**.: On their way. I will be arriving shortly as well :.**

**.: Understood. Bumblebee out. :.**

Bumblebee silently grinned, thinking of the possibilities that would open for his own amusement once Ratchet and the others arrived.

Oh, yes. Today was a wonderful day, indeed.


	7. Reconnecting

_A leader leads by example, not by force._

_-Sun Tzu_

-;-

Elina high fived the other men on her team as they scored another point, grinning widely. Bumblebee was parked several feet behind her side of the court, his alt-mode looking a little out of place on the pristine sands, and he was playing a playlist of summer themed music to get the competitive juices flowing.

She felt much more refreshed after her quick swim in the ocean, and quickly, she redid her hair in a high bun, revealing an inscription scrawled across her shoulder blades in latin.

Something that didn't go unnoticed by her uncle, who apparently had eyes like a hawk.

"Nice tattoo!" he complimented, raising his water bottle in a toast. "What the hell does it mean?"

"Either to conquer or to die!" she called back, readying herself to serve the volleyball. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the Stingray, Sideswipe, if she recalled correctly, watching the game with some interest. Taking a deep breath, Elina tossed the volleyball high before leaping and slamming it over the net in a powerful overhead serve, beginning the next round of the game.

-;-

Sideswipe watched the femme, intrigued of how at ease she was with himself and Bumblebee only mere feet away from her, when previously she'd panicked and tried to get away from them.

It was a little off to the mech, to be sure. But, what was he to do? He knew quite well how volatile femmes could be, and had been on the recieving end of Arcee's anger before. It was not a pleasant experience, and he wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to go through it again unless it was absolutely necessary.

"Heads up!"

A moment later, a ball careened out of nowhere and hit the thinking mech in the optic, causing him to glare at the offending object.

"Sorry!" Elina called, jogging over to grab the ball. "I guess I don't know my own strength."

Sideswipe appraised the small femme, taking in her slightly defensive form. So she wasn't yet accustomed to his presence as she was to Bumblebee.

"Just watch the paint." he replied shortly, noticing as her shoulders stiffened.

"Yeah, yeah." she waved it off before turning and jogging back over to the court, where she held the ball above her head like a trophy and yelled a war cry. It earned a questioning click from Bee, who had paused his radio in order to do so.

Elina laughed and patted his hood, saying something that Sideswipe was unable to make out due to the small wrestling match that was occurring on the opposite side of the net.

_What an odd little femme._

-;-

Leon stared at her cellphone in irritation.

It had been..a week since Ellie had left for Baghdad. And there was still nothing in terms of communication.

Fourteen hour time zone differences be damned.

Glancing at the clock, she sighed. It was blinking _8:51 PM_, and after doing a quick calculation figured out that it was _10:51 AM_ in Diego Garcia.

Pouting, she grabbed the phone, wondering when she would be getting a call from Ellie. She was lonely. And she needed some advice on how to deal with Alex. Without Ellie around, she was going to go bald from all the stress this was putting on her.

And suddenly, the phone rang.

_"WHAT THE FU-!"_

-;-

Finally. After what seemed like forever, Elina was getting to talk to Leon.

After all the drama had somewhat settled, her uncle had informed her that they were setting up a secure line between the base and Leon's cellphone, which had taken them a good couple of days and a panicking Elina bursting through her uncle's room screaming that Leon was going to kill her.

"_Hello?"_

Elina almost burst into tears as the familiar voice from home filled her ear with the question.

"Hey Leon."

_"ELLIE! YOU BITCH! DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I'VE BEEN ABOUT YOU!?"_

"I'm sorry." she apologized, chewing on her bottom lip. "But it's just been so busy, and I haven't gotten the chance to call you yet. We had to set up a secure line between your cellphone and the phone on my end."

_"Well..I suppose I could forgive you..Help."_

"Alex being impossible again?" she asked in some amusement, hearing her best friend groan from the other side of the line.

_"You have no idea. You always have the best advice. What do I do? He's been getting on my back about you, because I've been so out of it since you left, and I really, really want to punch his face in, but then he'd hate me forever and I'd never have a chance at him, because he'd get a restraining order, and I blame you for everything because you're a psycho fighter bitch." _

"Love you too, Leon." Elina smiled, feeling tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. "I miss you. Like, hella crazy. Uncle Epps is still as crazy as always, and there aren't a lot of women on base, so it's a little lonely. But I have Bee, so I guess I'll be able to live."

_"Bee?"_

Shit. Elina cringed at her slipup before replying. "Yeah, Bee. He's this sexy, sexy Camaro..."

_"...You and your crazy car-naming tendancies."_

"Oh, coming from you, missy." Elina snorted, sitting on her bed and leaning against the wall. "You named your car Kevin. Why can't I name mine Bee?"

_"You know what, that car had personality, for one thing. And I actually came up with Kevin because I named the damn thing after that super awesome bird from Up!" _Leon's defensive tone retorted, sending Elina into a burst of giggles.

"So, what are you up to? Other than your boy troubles, of course." Elina asked, staring at her nails. It appeared that she had chipped one while playing volleyball with the guys..

_"The usual. I almost knocked myself out yesterday. I went rolling down the stairs instead of sliding."_

"Sounds like fun." Elina hummed.

_"Yeah, right. So, lovely sassy woman of mine, what's new on your end? Other than naming a Camaro Bee. And why does the military have a Camaro in the first place?"_

"Well, think of it as a perk." Elina started. "And not a lot, actually. I had a bit of liaison work with the guys a couple of days ago, and we went to the beach and had a day of relaxation. I kicked all the guys asses at volleyball, too. You'd like it here. There's a tone of mechanical stuff lying around, and the beach looks like it belongs in Cuba or something."

_"Ugh. Now you're just making me jealous." _Leon whined from the other line. _"I wish I was there with you. Or you come back for a visit. You're going to be able to do that, right?" _

"Probably."

_"Good. Promise you'll talk to me soon? I'm exhausted, and it's getting late." _

"I promise, Leon." Elina smiled. "I'll call you soon."

_"Bye."_

"Bye."

"So...who was that?" Fig asked, leaning against the doorframe of her room.

Elina screeched before chucking a pencil at the male, unfortunately the sharpest object she had on hand. She would really have to get a better selection of weaponry if men were going to just walk on in on her.

"Don't you know how to knock?" she hissed.

"Sure. Most people do. I just choose not to." he shrugged.

Elina narrowed her eyes before cracking her knuckles and making the spanish speaking male swallow nervously. "Now, now, you wouldn't _really _come after me, would you?" he grinned hopefully.

"How about you stick around and find out?" she smirked, shoving herself off of the bed and stalking smoothly towards Fig, who decided that it would be a really good idea to start running.

_"MI DIOS!" _

His screams echoed around the base, and the only thing keeping everyone from running out to make sure that it wasn't a Decepticon attack was Bee's hysterical laughter as he watched Elina serve up a healthy serving of justice.


	8. Lost and Found

_Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, _

_and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt._

_-Sun Tzu_

-;-

Unfortunately for Elina, she was assigned nurse duty to Fig for beating the living shit out of him. Much to Bumblebee's amusement, of course.

Epps had told her that it was also going to be considered her test to see how compatible she would be for the medical officer position. So, in other words, she couldn't further take out her anger on the male, considering that he was basically her lab rat.

Luckily for Fig, Elina hadn't actually caused as much damage as everyone had initially thought. It turned out that the only serious injury was a cracked jaw and a couple fractured fingers, among the many layers of purple and black bruising from the rest of her blows.

Bumblebee was there the entire time just to make sure that she behaved, though Elina had been alerted that he would be transmitting the footage of her taking care of Fig to Ratchet, the Autobots Medic.

But at this rate, all Bumblebee was going to be streaming was her strangling the male. He was infuriating. And not as in, mildly annoying. Oh, no. She was talking about Fig blatantly pissing her off, a wide grin plastered on his face as he did so.

Luckily, however, she had her iPod on hand, and she slipped in a pair of headphones in order to drown out Fig's whining.

"Honestly, you're being a baby." she informed him. "I know a twenty-something girl who barely even made a sound when she fell down the stairs and broke her wrist."

Fig must have heard the warning in her tone, because he shut up for the remaining hour that was spent dressing his wounds.

-;-

Walking out of the infirmary, Elina didn't see them coming until metal fingers were plucking her from the floor as if she were nothing but a feather.

"_BEE!" _she screamed, fear fueling her thoughts.

A second later, she was dropped into something that resembled a jar, though the sides and bottom were darkly tinted. Yelping as she hit the floor, she looked up, only to see a pair of blue optics blinking back at her before a lid was put over the top.

_"LET ME OUT!" _she screeched, beating her hands against the walls of her prison uselessly. _"BEE! I'M IN A FREAKING JAR! HELP!"_

Lifting a leg, she delivered a powerful kick to the jar. Only to spit out a handful of curses that would make most men cringe as she felt her foot erupt into pain. Okay, obviously this thing wasn't made of glass. But since she couldn't see anything, she couldn't really identify what the hell it was.

She could hear voices, although she couldn't make out what they were saying. A moment later, everything moved around her, sending her tumbling around with pained yells.

At one point, she thought she was going to throw up, but luckily enough, she didn't.

_"LET ME OUT OF HERE, YOU BASTARD!" _she continued to shriek, trying to break her way out of wherever the hell she was. The motions had stopped a few moments previous, and now she was sure that she and the jar had been put down somewhere.

Panic welling up in her chest as she realized that no one could hear her, she continued to beat against the jar uselessly.

She was terrified of the dark. Absolutely terrified. It stemmed from an incident way back when from when she was a little older than a toddler, when she had accidentally locked herself in the shed. Now, the problem was that the shed had no windows, and she wasn't quite tall enough to reach the knob from the inside. Not only that, but her parents thought she was over at a friends house, so they didn't get too concerned until she didn't show up for dinner.

Three hours later, an entire police squad called in, and a tearful Elina found in the back shed, and she hadn't gone near the dark since.

Not willingly, anyway.

-;-

"Can anyone hear me?" she croaked, usure of how long she'd been locked up in the damned jar. Her hands were stinging from beating the walls, her foot was throbbing from trying to kick her way out. She also could have sworn that she hurt her shoulder at one point as well, not to mention that she was cold, hungry, and scared.

All in all, Elina was not a happy camper. She didn't know what was even going on. Had she been taken off the base? Was she in enemy hands, doomed to suffer by starvation?

Time passed- she couldn't name how long it was she lay there, hoping that she wouldn't descend into madness like some kind of cliche movie character. Now that would be a story to tell Leon...

If she ever got out of this stupid piece of shit jar-_thing_.

Sighing, her energy spent, she leaned her head against the solid material that surrounded her, hoping that when she woke up, she would realize that it had all just been a bad dream.

-;-

Bumblebee was worried.

Scratch that- Bumblebee was panicking.

He'd knocked something over in the infirmary, and had paused to put it back in its place when he'd heard Elina scream. But by the time he'd made it to the hall, it was deserted, no sign of the mocha skinned woman anywhere in sight.

He'd comm-linked Optimus, barely coherant as he rambled to the Prime that Elina had been kidnapped.

Soon enough, the entire base was in an uproar. Ironhide was automatically assuming that it was the Decepticons, but if that had been the case, why would they have only taken Elina? Only those on the base knew that she was Epps' niece, and the Decepticons really wouldn't gain much from her other than ransom. Which, even then wouldn't help them. It would have made far more sense for them to take an Autobot.

Which then made the suspicion fall on the men in the base.

Number one on Epps' hit list, unfortunately, was Fig. The poor man was not having the best day, and when Epps went barging into the infirmary, he'd screamed bloody murder as the man went into full interrogation mode, almost resulting in Fig being throttled.

Fig didn't know anything, considering that he'd passed out while Elina was cleaning up. Ratchet confirmed it, replaying the transmission that Bee had sent him.

Epps was basically foaming at the mouth. Whoever had taken his niece was going to find out what it was like to be mauled by a muscular and very angry protective Uncle Epps.

Personally, Ironhide was looking forward to seeing that happen. He was a little strange that way.

But finally, their first clue.

Skids had been mysteriously absent for almost the entire time that everyone had been panicking, and Mudflap looked a little concerned himself. When Optimus asked him where his twin was, the mech looked confused for a moment before telling the Prime that he'd been acting a little strange since their day on the beach. Not only this, but Mudflap admitted that Skids had blocked their bond, so he couldn't tell what he was doing at the moment.

"I'll kill him!" Epps roared. "I'll tear off his legs and throw them into the darkest part of the ocean I can find! I'll gouge out his optics! I'll-"

Most looked away as the man went into a fit of cursing the mech in almost every language he knew. Which, surprisingly, amounted to several, including Cybertronian and English.

"Autobots, move out." Optimus ordered before crouching and offering Lennox and Epps a large servo for them to climb on to.

They had a mech to find.

-;-

"Ughh...I'm so hungry..." Elina groaned, rubbing her growling stomach as she lay on her back. It turned out that the floor of this thing was actually rather comfortable, albeit cold. "And it's still really darrrrkkkk...and scaaarry."

A sudden vibration shook the jar, and she was sent tumbling to- whichever direction it was with a yelp.

Angry voices filtered through the thick surface of the jar, and among them, Elina could hear a radio fuzzing.

_"BUMBLEBEE! SOMEONE! CAN YOU HEAR ME!? I'M IN THE JAR! LET ME OUT!" _she cried out, beginning her assault on the jar again. _"BEE!" _

Silence fell, but she continued trying to get herself heard.

_"CAN ANYONE HEAR ME!? I'M IN A JAR!" _

"That sounds like.." she heard someone say. Hope blossomed in her chest. Someone had heard her!

_"I'M HERE! HELP ME!" _

"Elina?"

Light burst into existence, and she squinted as a blue optic looked back at her. Gently, the jar tilted, and she tumbled onto Bumblebee's palm- _servo_. Heaving with relief, she then proceeded to burst into tears.

"I was so scared- no light- didn't know what was going on-" she whimpered.

"Ellie!"

She looked up a second before warm arms encased her, and she breathed in the familiar scent of her uncle.

"Uncle Epps.." she sighed, nuzzling into his warmth. Suddenly, she felt drained. All of her energy had been spent on attempts to break out of her temporary prison, and now that the adrenaline was wearing off, she felt very tired. "I'm tired.."

"I know, hon. I know." he murmured, rubbing circles on her back.

"Mhmm...I'm gonna go to sleep now." she yawned before falling asleep. It had been a very stressful day for everyone, and Ratchet was not taking any excuses as he took Elina from Epps, scanning her as he did so.

He growled as he noted that she had sustained injuries.

_Skids was so going to be offlined when he was finally found._


	9. Technologic

_If the mind is willing, the flesh could go on and on without many things._

_-Sun Tzu_

-;-

Elina groaned, feeling as though she'd been run over by something repeatedly. And considering she'd been hit by a taxi once, she did have something to compare to.

Blearily, she pried open her eyes, not quite ready to come back into the world of giant sentient robots.

However, at seeing blue optics staring at her, she snapped her eyes shut.

"Please let there not be a giant 'bot standing over me." she whimpered, her mind deciding that now was a good time to grace her with memories from the last twenty-four hours.

A wry chuckle answered her, rumbling thorugh her and shaking her frame. "My apologies, femme."

Elina chanced another glance, warily sizing up the mech towering over her.

He was quite tall, more than Bee, and his frame spored a few bulkier pieces of armor. However, it was his face that intrigued her, despite the fact that he heart was hammering at a million miles an hour. His optics were blue, darker than Bee's and his mouth did not show very clear signs of smiling.

"Is it safe to assume that you're Ratchet?" she asked tentatively.

"Yes." the mech replied.

"Okay. So, you're the Medical Officer?" she continued, clarifying the information so that she could store it away for a later use.

"I am." Ratchet nodded. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got run over by a taxi. Multiple times." Elina groaned, listening to the aches that her body was giving her.

The Autobot looked as though he wanted to inquire into the matter further, but before he could, something slammed into her with all the force of a falling brick. Squealing, she lost her balance, falling from wherever she was resting and colliding with the ground. Which hurt.

"Owww.." she whined, looking into the sheepish face of her uncle. "Uncle Epps! I'm gonna kill you!"

"I was worried about you, Ellie." he frowned.

"You're weird." she informed him, attempting to pull the man off of her. "Now get off. I'm in pain, and you're going to be shortly if I can't get you off."

Almost immediately, he let go, and she sucked in a lungful of air gratefully. "Thank you."

He looked uncomfortable, although she supposed that it wasn't without reason. She was kind of glaring at him. And he was now under being stared at rather unpleasantly by Ratchet.

"Okay, okay, I'm off. Don't throw a wrench at me, Ratch." Epps grinned sheepishly, holding his hands up innocently. "I only came to make sure that Ellie was okay. That and to tell her that some kid keeps calling- I think her name's Leon?"

"Leon? Leon called?" she perked up. "But how did she get the number? I never gave it to her.."

"Huh. We'll have to set you up with your own phone line then." Epps hummed, tilting his head to one side. "I'll go ask Lennox and Prime about it. We'll get it sorted out, but in the meantime, you should probably give her a call back. She sounded pretty excited."

"Shit." Elina groaned. She'd forgotten all about Leon. She was going to skin her alive the next time she met up with the klutzy brunette, she just knew it. Shuddering, she was once again under scrutiny from the two males in the room.

"Are you well?" Ratchet asked, concern evident in his tone.

"Leon's going to murder me. With great pleasure." she moaned. "I promised I would keep in touch..."

Epps chuckled, patting his niece's shoulder as he bent down to whisper something else.

"What about that brother of mine, Ellie? How's he doing?"

"I am dead. So very, very dead." Elina chanted to herself, slinging an arm over her eyes as she fell back onto the metal table.

-;-

"_ELLIE YOU FUCKING BITCH! I THOUGHT YOU SAID THAT YOU'D CALL ME BACK SOON! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU STUPID LITTLE WHORE!?" _

Ellie was suddenly very glad that she'd put the phone on speaker.

"Um..."

_"DON'T YOU UM ME, BITCH! DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I'VE BEEN!?"_

_"_Obviously a lot. Look, I'm sorry." Ellie sighed, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair. "I got kidnapped."

"_WHAT!? OH MY GOD WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO SOONER!?" _

"Well, you've kind of been chewing me out for the last half hour.." she rolled her eyes.

_"Oh, right...WAIT! YOU GOT KIDNAPPED! WHAT THE FUCK!?"_

"Well...one of the guys here thought that it would be cool to have me as their 'pet', I guess you could say. His brother wasn't so amused, and they eventually found me..but still. I'd love to say that we found the asshole, but he's still MIA."

_"...you are so fucking lucky that I'm not on my way to you right now."_

"Speaking of which, how did you get this number? It's kind of supposed to be classified."

_"Uhhh...no...reason?"_

"I thought I told you not to hack anymore numbers that are being used by the military!?"

"_Well...if they had better security, then maybe it wouldn't happen so often!" _

"You know what? I'm just gonna go and tell Lennox to let me update all the firewalls." she deadpanned. "And then, I'm gonna call my father. Has he called there yet?"

"_A couple of times. I told him that you were overseas for some medical training shit and that you'd be back in a couple months."_

"You know, sometimes I'm really glad that you're my friend and not my enemy."

_"But we'd make such good enemies!" _Leon chirped back cheerily. "_Oh. Crap. Gotta go, there's another call coming in. Call me soon, and this time I mean it, Elina." _

"Bye." Ellie replied right before the line went dead.

Turning, she was mildly surprised to see that Bumblebee was poking his head in through her room door, but not enough to startle her.

"Hey Bee." she greeted, offering him a timid smile, to which he returned with a bright chirp.

She had been surprised to hear that Bumblebee felt guilty about her getting kidnapped, even though it wasn't his fault. Technically, anyway. It wasn't even her fault. It was just one of those really freaking occurences that just happened to happen to her. Which was typical, in her case.

She'd forgiven him automatically, considering that he had been pulling the puppy dog eyes while he had been begging for her forgiveness. How could she say no to that face?

She found herself liking the Autobot. He was almost like a child in his mannerisms, but still held that sense of maturity over her like a blanket, and it made her feel much more comfortable than in the presence of say..Ratchet. Then again, Ratchet didn't seem like the type who got out much.

"Can I get a lift to Lennox? I need to talk to him about the security levels around the base." she asked, grabbing her black jacket and slinging it on over her white t-shirt. Bending down, she fixed her canvas pants and re-tucked them into the army boots she had been given, along with a teasing warning that it was for a good reason. Apparently, there were some slightly unpleasant things that would not be pleasant if they got into her summery shoes, which were pretty much all she had on her person.

Bee gave one of his chirps of agreement before retracting his head for a moment. Several seconds later, the familiar sound of metal and whirring was heard, and then the camaro pulled up right outside her door, the passenger door open invitingly.

"Thanks." she closed the door before clambering in. Almost immediately, she felt herself relax as the air conditioner blew on high in her face. It was welcome in comparison to the usual heat in the base, as there were no cooling systems currently available to be put to use. She found herself nearly purring at the cold. This was the kind of weather she was used to. Not this infernal heat that made her want to strip off everything and make a break for the nearest beach.

Closing her eyes, she leaned back against the leather seats. If she could get Leon to give her a walkthrough on how to set up the air conditioners, it would be a huge relief to the soldiers and Autobots to be able to cool off. She'd noted Sideswipe and Ironhide looking a little sluggish as the temperatures continued to climb. If this is what the spring months were like, she really wasn't looking forward to what the summer months would be like.

"_We're here!" _Bee's radio stated cheerily, the door popping open to allow her out, seeing Lennox and Epps standing in line to get some coffee. At the moment, it sounded like a very appealing thought, and she walked over to join them after a quick word of good-bye to Bee.

"Hey Lennox. Epps." she greeted, snagging the cup that Epps was suddenly going to grab and taking a sip.

"Hey!" her uncle protested, making to grab it back. Ellie raised a brow, lifting the cup out of his reach before turning and taking another long mouthful.

"I stole it fair and square. Go get your own." she deadpanned. "Besides, I only came over here to talk to Lennox."

Lennox raised a brow, looking a little confused. "Alright..?"

"Don't worry. It's nothing too serious." Ellie grinned. "At least, nothing I can't fix."

"And?" Epps chimed in.

"Well..Leon has a bit of a bad habit of hacking.." she started, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "And I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I'm the one who taught her.."

Will suddenly got one of those sinking feelings in his stomach as Ellie continued to talk.

"And she kinda...hacked into your network to get the phone number."

"But- that's nearly impossible!" Epps yelled indignantly, gaining the curious stares of several soldiers who happened to be walking by. "Especially with the Autobots on the job!"

"Well, obviously they aren't doing it up to the standards needed." Ellie rolled her eyes, finishing the coffee before placing the now empty cup down. "Not to mention that you are clearly underestimating both mine and Leon's computor skills."

Lennox looked at Epps with a look of disbelief on his face. How many hidden skills did Elina have that she wasn't sharing, exactly?

Sighing, Ellie crossed her arms. "I can help you boost your firewalls and security if you'll let me. Leon is nowhere near as good a techie as I am."

"Where have you been keeping this girl?" Lennox asked Epps, who shrugged in reply.

"With Leon. I haven't seen her for a few years. Don't ask."

"Well obviously, I'm asking." Lennox retorted, a smirk crossing his features.

Luckily, Ellie saved the day with a quick clearing of her throat. "So..Lennox? Verdict?"

"Yes."

"Alright then. Let's get started."

-;-

The fact that there was suddenly a woman working with them in the security department of the base was a shocker for the men. Of all the women it had to be, it just had to be Epps' niece. Not only was she easy on the eyes, but she was a pretty smart chick who had already hit three different men in the first five minutes of walking through the door. Which she had grumbled about seconds afterwards since she was also the current candidate for becoming the new Medical Officer for the human side of the base.

After the couple of hiccups, however, she was settled into a station and had gotten to work, ignoring any of the warnings and passwords that the men were attempting to throw her way. She was a woman on a mission, and damn it all, if she didn't prove to these men that they weren't doing their job, her mission was a failure.

It took a mere ten minutes to fully bipass any and all viruses, firewalls, and various other technologic barriers that got in her way, and soon had all of NEST's innermost workings up on the screen for all to see.

"This," she stated loudly, gaining the attention of the remaining people, "Is what I managed to do in ten minutes. Against the Transformers technology, you don't stand a chance. Everything you try to protect will be on the internet faster than you can say taco."

Lennox, standing by the door, was torn between gaping in awe and snickering loudly at the looks on some of the mens faces. After all, it wasn't everyday that a woman like Elina came waltzing through their department, beat the crap out of them, and then chewed them out like a veteran security member.

He had to admit, it was a little bit of a pleasant change.

"Alright, so this is what I'm going to do. Pair up with someone near you. I've got a mission for you, should you choose to accept. But, even if you don't, you don't have much of a choice with me around." Ellie planted her feet, propping her hands on her hips, looking every inch a soldier. "Now, I'm going to create two different firewalls. You and your partner are both going to hack through them respectively. You have one hour before you can try your hand, so I suggest you all scram."

Lennox was further amused when not one of the men questioned her, though he could have sworn it was because he was standing there in the room while all of this was going on. Filtering past him, a couple of the men stopped to comment on what they thought of the woman.

"Can we keep her here?" one of the older security members almost begged. "She's the best thing that's come into our department since we started up."

"Sorry." he shrugged. "Ratchet's got dibs on her, but I'll let you know if anything changes."

"Damn. Why do the Autobots get all the good ones?"

"Beats me." Lennox grinned back. "See you in an hour."

The other man grunted a vague reply before waving him off as he left the giant room.

Soon, it was just him and Elina. He stayed for several moments longer before he grew dizzied by the frenzied tapping on the keyboard, to which he was astonished at the things that were popping up on the monitor as she began building up what appeared to be a power bar. Blinking, he decided he should not question the laws of technology, and beat a hasty retreat before the woman decided she needed his help with something.

Women. Can't understand them, can't live with them. If that was the case, the entirety of the base was screwed.


	10. Obstacles

_The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind. _

_-William Blake_

-;-

"Hey daddy."

_"There's my baby girl!" _her father replied over the line, his deep voice making her relax automatically. _"I called to check up on you, but Leon tells me you're overseas doing some training?" _

"Something like that." Ellie replied, staring at the wall and idly wondering if she could get Leon to send her some of her graffiti to put up. "I'm actually doing some medical training at the base that Uncle Epps is stationed at."

_"Rob? Really?" _her father asked, sounding rather confused. "_I thought he was-"_

"Overseas?" she finished for him with a small laugh. "Yeah. Apparently I have the makings for a fine CMO, so they're considering hiring me."

There was a heavy sigh from the other line before her father spoke again. _"Just keep in mind that it's war, baby."_

"I know, dad." Ellie promised. "But Leon says I should go for it, and the guys here are pretty cool, once they realize that I'm not as fragile as I might seem."

_"Atta girl, Ellie!" _

Ellie mock groaned over the line, hearing her father's laughter grow louder as she did so. "Is no one going to chew me out for beating up the boys?"

_"I would, but I'm the one who started it." _her father replied shamelessly. _"So, I take it everything is still going good between Leon and that boy you were telling me about?" _

"I guess..?" Ellie guessed. "I'm not sure. Alex seems to be interested, but Leon's being stubborn again. I'll have to give her a good talking to when I come back."

_"Mhm. Well, I should probably get up. It's still pretty early here, but I have some errands to run. You just give me a call if you need anything, baby. Tell Rob to say hi to Monica and the kids."_

"Will do, dad. Talk to you soon." she promised before hanging up. It was only afterwards that she realized how homesick she actually was. She missed Leon, and her whining about Alex, and how she always tripped both up and down the stairs in the morning. And she missed her girls from work, and the friends that she'd left behind. But this was her decision, and she was sticking to it. She was an Epps, damn it all, and an Epps didn't back down from anything.

Well, maybe from the Autobots. But then again, they were a fairly good reason for her to be afraid.

Ellie was still torn about what to think about them. Bumblebee was pretty much still the only 'bot she would go near, and that was pretty much because he was one of the most adorable things that she had ever seen in her life. It was hard to see him as anything but cute with his radio clips and bright yellow paint. Add that with his shy but bubbly personality, and she was practically putty in his servos.

Ratchet was scary, the Prime was scary, and Ironhide especially terrified her. She wasn't about to forget her first encounter with the Weapons Specialist any time soon, and it was still difficult for her and Bee to pass him in the halls without Ellie twitching at the least.

She thought back to earlier, and the praise that she had recieved from quite a few members of the security department after she had made all of the teams try out her firewalls. Apparently, she was one of the best women that they had seen so far in the brief time that NEST had been going.

She was content so far. Nothing too drastic had happened to her, besides the intergalactic war and robot thing, but that didn't really count. She was getting a steady stream of small injuries coming into the infirmary, and she patched them up with ease. In fact, she was beginning to get a little bored with how little challenge there was. The most serious injury she'd had to fix up had been one of the guys coming in from training with Ironhide. Apparently, he'd gotten grazed with the barrel of one of his cannons, which, in human terms, meant that there was a four inch deep gash running from his shoulder to just past his elbow, and it had taken her a good couple of hours to completely stitch him back up again. During the process, the man had looked slightly disgusted by the fact that she was casually sticking her fingers into the gash without so much as flinching, but Ellir hadn't particularly cared. There had been a chance that there could be a bit of rock or metal in the wound, and she wasn't taking any chances with infection. They were rather unpleasant buggers, infections.

Ellie sighed, massaging the side of her head as she stared at the advanced looking cellphone. It was, apparently, a Nokia Lumia 920, and was a dark grey in color. Actually, it was closer to black than anything, but if Lennox said it was dark grey...

A light cough sounded from behind her, and without even flinching, she yawned. "Hello, Fig."

"How'd you know it was me, _chica?" _

"Easy. You're the only one I know who would willingly come find me." she replied with a hum. "Well...human, anyway."

"Something on your mind, Elina?" Fig asked, seemingly reading her mind.

"I'm just a little homsick. I'm missing my girl." she waved him off. "I'll be fine."

"If you say so.." Fig shrugged. "I was just coming by to see if you wanted to go for a run on through the obstacle course with me. After all, we should see if our potential CMO will be able to keep up with all of us strong and handsome men."

Ellie gave him a deadpan stare before snorting. "Honey, I have seen my share of men when they're injured. Not a lot of them actually look handsome while they're bleeding out. But sure, since I obviously have nothing better to do for the moment..."

Glancing over her current attire, she dubbed herself suitable to go running through Lord knows what. One of her older shirts that looked as though it had been dunked in grease, no doubt courtesy of Leon, her canvas pants, and the army boots. She'd taken to wearing them simply because she found them so comfortable, though most of the other soldiers complained about them frequently. Maybe it was simply because she was a woman?

Speaking of which..the few women that she'd caught a glimpse of when she'd first arrived had seemingly disappeared into thin air. She would have to ask her uncle about it later, at dinner.

If she survived the obstacle course, anyway.

-;-

"Holy shit."

Turns out that there were _several _obstacle courses. And Fig was going to run her through _all _of them.

Ah well. There was only one thing to do in a situation like this.

Inhaling deeply, she gabbed her foot and pulled gently, beginning to warm up. If she was going to be put to work, she really didn't want to risk tearing or breaking anything that she would regret breaking or tearing later.

Fig gave her an odd look, to which she ignored, continuing to warm up. He could give her all the funny looks he wanted. It wasn't going to stop her from warming up. It was routine for her. It was almost an instinct by this point, having been practicing both kickboxing and muay thai for years. It was important that she do her stretches, considering that the ten most common sports related injuries were caused by exhaustion and lack of warm ups before playing/practicing whatever sport. Not to mention that she'd hurt herself playing soccer a couple of years ago because she hadn't warmed up properly.

It took her a good twenty minutes before she was warmed up and ready to roll. By this point, Fig had taken post against the nearest wall, arms crossed and brow raised. She sent him a slightly amused smirk before shrugging her shoulders.

"Well? I don't exactly go through obstacle courses every other day. I do need some instruction."

The male at least had the decency to look sheepish as he came over to stand by her by the first obstacle course, that looked as though the start was right by a set of parallel bars. Oh, boy. She wasn't a big fan of parallel bars. They had a tendency to try and take her out. Oh well. _You only live once. _

"It's pretty simple. We've laid everything out so that it just moves into the next course. It's basically a gigantic jungle gym for all of us boys to play on."

Shading her eyes, Ellie surveyed the dusty, desert like terrain that seemed to stretch on for ages. He had a point. It was basically a gigantic jungle gym. It looked rather fun, once she got past the barbed wire and the parallel bars.

"Right. Because it's going to be _sooo _easy for me to get through this without passing out. You have water nearby?" she questioned, pulling an elastic off of her wrist in order to pull her hair back into a high ponytail. Grabbing another elastic, she twisted her hair into a tight bun, only a couple of strands floating freely in the faint breeze.

"Right over there." he pointed to one of the open hangars, where she could see a couple of white coolers waiting by the entrance.

"Alright then." she grinned, bouncing from one foot to the other for a moment. "This should be fun."

-;-

Surprisingly, Ellie found herself actually laughing as she ducked through the barbed wire, army crawling steadily, hearing Fig from somewhere up ahead. It was a challenge for her, and to be perfectly honest, she hadn't had this much fun in a while. Not since she and Leon had gone out on Halloween the previous year.

Finally, she crawled up the small hill, making a break for a pyramid made out of thick logs, seeing Fig just past them and making his way steadily up a rope to a platform that led up to another part of the obstacles.

As she jogged through the sand to the pyramid, she caught a glimpse of silver out of the corner of her eye. Flicking her gaze in that direction for a moment, she was momentarily surprised to note that a small group of the Autobots had gathered to watch.

Huffing, she continued, quickly scaling the pyramid before sliding down via rope as she ran on to the rope.

She was suddenly very grateful that she had a decent amount of upper arm strength. Otherwise it would be highly doubtful that she would make it to the top without falling and most likely breaking her neck. Yeah, that would be an unpleasant ending to the day, that was for sure.

After what seemed like forever, she made it to the platform, only to see that she now had another platform about seven feet above her that she was supposed to clamber up to. Somehow.

Growling, she croughed, feeling the muscles in the back of her legs clench with mild protest before she launched herself up, latching on to the edge and hauling herself up, with some difficulty.

She had the nagging feeling that if Leon were watching, she would probably be laughing her ass off at her attempts at getting through this course. Hissing as one of her nails caught on the rope bridge, which was suspended about forty feet in the air, with nothing but a couple of ropes for support at her hips, she threw her thoughts back into the task at hand. All of these distractions were doing nothing but allowing Fig to get farther and farther ahead. And hell, she wasn't about to let him win!

Pausing only to pull the broken nail off with her teeth, Ellie was soon back on her way, fully intent on gaining on Fig.

-;-

Leon sneezed.

Blinking, she rubbed her nose, having a suspicion that someone was talking about her.

"Probably Ellie." she muttered crankily, staring at the innocent wrench in her hands. "Ohhh..she's gonna be lucky if I don't bash her brains out with something heavy when I see her."

"Oh really? Plotting murder again, I see." Alex hummed from over her shoulder.

Screeching, she whirled, flailing wildly with the wrench-

And smoking Alex in the nose with said wrench. Immediately, blood spurted from the wound inflicted by the devastating piece of metal, and Leon was in a panic as she grabbed a rag to dab at it.

"Oh Jesus, I'm so sorry." she apologized, brunette bangs hanging in her eyes as she looked up at him like a beaten puppy. "Alex, are you alright? Do you think it's broken? Should I drive you to the hospital?"

Wincing, his eyes watering, Alex gently prodded the flesh before shaking his head. "Nah. I'll be fine. I think."

"God. I'm such an idiot." Leon muttered to herself, sitting back with a guilty look plastered all over her face. "I'm really sorry, Alex. I shouldn't have done that."

"Leo, it's fine. I shouldn't have gotten that close while you were holding a potentially dangerous object. I kind of brought it on myself. Don't worry about it."

"But I am!" she nearly wailed. "I feel awful!"

Sighing, Alex took the rag from her hand and continued to dag at the blood, which had already nearly stopped flowing from his nostrils. "Trust me, I've had worse. Don't worry about it."

Pouting, Leon nodded sulkily before moving to go back to the engine parts that she was cleaning. "Sorry."

"It's fine." Alex assured again. "Seriously. Just go back to work and let me nurse my wounded pride."

"If you say so..." Leon finally relented.

Alex merely waved her off as he went in search of another rag.

_Aww..Ellie, I really need your womanly advice right about now... _she mentally moaned, placing her head in her hands.

-;-

Ellie sneezed as she lept over a log, nearly sending her head first backwards into another log behind her. She'd just barely managed to catch up to Fig, and because of her momentary sneeze attack, he'd gotten ahead yet again.

Growling lowly, she pushed herself to go faster, feeling the sweat dripping down the back of her neck and ignoring the urge to wipe it away from her eyes. She could see the finish from here, and she couldn't let herself lose now.

There was only a transfer rope and a set of tires standing in her way now.

Letting out a yell, she launched herself over the final log before hurling herself into the air, latching onto the rope and savagely hauling herself up. Grabbing the hoop between her and the next rope, she swung over to the second rope before sliding down and sprinting for the tires. Fig was only halfway through them: she still had time.

The tires flew by her feet, and Fig was only a couple of steps ahead of her as he crossed the finish a second before she did.

"_Aw...fuck.." _she panted, slowing to a walk and resisting the urge to throw up. "That's gotta be the best and _worst _workout I have _ever _done in my life."

"I don't doubt it." Fig panted back. "Nice job, by the way."

"Yeah." Ellie gasped, beginning to walk off the stiffness that was already settling into her joints. She was going to need a long, cold shower after she chugged a bottle of water, and then she was crashing until someone needed her for something important. "I think I'm a little out of shape, though."

Fig sent her an incredulous look as he walked next to her to the cooler, and she grabbed a couple of bottles of water from the half melted ice, tossing one to him. Cracking open the cap, she downed the entire thing in twenty seconds.

"Yeah." she continued, feeling less like she was about to die. "I haven't been keeping up my routine for the last couple of weeks, and this was the first actual workout I've done in about a month. Although my workouts don't last an hour and aren't usually in about forty degree weather in the middle of nowhere for the army."

Fig nodded vaguely as he downed his own water, and then started as several shadows fell over them.

Looking up, Ellie was unsurprised to see Bee waving cheerily down at her. It was the fact that _Ironhide _and _Sideswipe _were with him that was startling.

"Nice moves, femme." Sideswipe nodded to her, his tone not the usual disgusted one that he took whenever he had to be in close proximity to a 'squishy'. "Gotta say, didn't think you would make it through a couple spots there."

She forced herself to relax, finding that a smile easily came to her face as she shrugged. "I'm determined."

"Yes you are." Lennox suddenly remarked, making her jump before wincing. Her muscles were not going to be agreeing with her tomorrow..

"Thanks, Lennox." she smiled slightly at him, finding that her exhaustion was quickly catching up to her. "I think I'm going to hit the showers and then pass out for the next week."

Lennox chuckled before ruffling her hair, although he looked a little grossed out at the amount of sweat that came off of her scalp a few moments later. "Go right ahead. Epps and I'll hold the fort down for you."

"Do you and Uncle Epps even know how to put on a bandaid, let alone stitch someone up?" she asked skeptically. "Not happening. I'll be up tomorrow. Maybe the day after that."

"Yeah, well..you better get going before someone decides to go and hurt themselves."

"Yes sir." she saluted wearily before limping off, leaving the men, and mechs, to their own conversation.

"She _is _rather determined." Ironhide commented reluctantly. "I admit that I did not think she would successfully complete the course."

"You and me both, big guy." Lennox said, slapping the side of his leg. "But then again, she is Epps' niece, and she does come from a military background."

"You have a point." Sideswipe admitted before looking down to Fig. "I didn't think she would catch up to you."

"Neither did I." Fig pulled a mock scared face. "I'd hate to see what she's like when she's really mad."

-;-

It was like stepping into highschool all over again. Except that it wasn't. It was a military base, and the set-up was more like that of a public pool than anything else. The stalls were all lined up next to one another, the walls seperating one from the next only coming up to shoulder height and making it far more easy to converse with your neighbor.

That is, if there were any other women to converse with.

At the moment, every stall was deserted, and Ellie wasted no time in stripping out of her dusty clothing, not caring that she would have to wear them back to her room so that she could change. It could wait until after she'd scrubbed every inch of dirt and sweat off her skin. And even then, she was too tired to really care about anything but showering and then sleeping.

Humming as she decided against the cold shower, she cranked the heat up until it looked like it was near boiling before stepping in, hissing at the temperature until she bacame accustomed to it. Then she was hard at work, completely submerging her head into the steam and breathing slowly so as to not get as much steam into her lungs.

Her hair took the longest to get clean, considering that it was coated with sand and dust that did not want to come out due to the fact that there was so much sweat remaining in it, but eventually, she was clean.

No one bothered her on her way back to her room, thankfully, and she changed into her comfortable fuzzy pyjama bottoms and a tank top before falling into bed, asleep before her head hit the pillow.


	11. How to Save a Life

_Courage is the resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear. _

_-Mark Twain_

-;-

"Ellie..honey, it's time to get up."

She groaned, shifting under her comfortable sheets, her legs stiff from the over use the day before. Lazily, she batted at whoever was prodding her, mumbling something under her breath.

"Go away. I'm sleeping." she yawned, opening her eyes to see the fuzzy shape of none other than her uncle standing over her.

"I know, honey. But someone got hurt out on a mission and they need your help."

Sighing, Ellie lay there for a moment before rolling into a sitting position to pull her boots on. A few seconds later, and she was walking down the large metal halls toward her infirmary, only bothering to pull her hair back into a messy bun as she went.

She was sure to raise a few brows by her appearance, considering that she was wearing dark blue fuzzy pajama pants and a light yellow tank top, with the dark army boots hanging loosely off of her feet. Not only that, but her hair probably looked like a hurricane had gone through it. Either that or some kind of animal decided to make a nest out of it. At this point, both options were possible.

Entering the Medical Bay, she quickly took note of the pale woman gritting her teeth as a couple of what appeared to be her teammates tried to stop a deep gash in her leg from bleeding further.

"Alright. Everyone _out_." she snapped, in no mood for anyone to protest against her words.

"What? Who the hell are you?" one of the men standing by her retorted, crossing his arms. "And why should we listen to you?"

"My name, _asshole_, is Elina Epps. And at the moment, this is _my _Med-Bay, so I suggest you _shut up_ and _get out_ before I make you a patient." Ellie growled, moving to pull on a pair of medical gloves. "And just so you know, I'm a national champion in kickboxing _and _state champion in muay thai. Not to mention I know roughly seventy ways to knock you out with minimal effort on my part."

"Marcus, stand down." the woman hissed, looking like she was ready to tear off her teammate's head if he so much as said one more word. Turning her gaze back to Ellie, she offered a half grin in apology. "Sorry about him. I'm Captain Eliza Barnes of the SRT."

Ellie smiled in return as she pulled out the necessary materials for her to hook up the woman to an IV, among other things. "Do I dare ask was the SRT is?" she teased lightly, ignoring her irritation for the moment at the fact that there was still a group of people surrounding her new patient.

"We're a SWAT team- only military style." another woman piped up brightly, causing her Captain to snort. She was the shortest of the group, and she had pale blonde hair pulled back into a high tail and bright blue eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, Lex. We get it." yet another man rolled his eyes.

Ellie rolled her shoulders as she set up the IV before popping her back. She wasn't all that annoyed at the moment, but she really did need the space to keep this team's leader from possibly dying.

"Alright. Everyone out. I need to get to work in peace." she snapped curtly, clapping her hands. "And if anyone gives me any back talk, I already warned you once. I won't do it again."

Marcus gave her a dirty look, but did what he was told. Lex, small and dainty, dragged a couple of other men out by their ears, ignoring their pained whines. The remainder of the group followed out dutifully, and Ellie gratefully locked the door behind them before turning back to Eliza.

"Alright. How are you feeling, Eliza?" Ellie asked, grabbing a chair and dragging it over so that she could sit while taking a look at the wound. "Do you know how long you've been bleeding?"

Mentally, she ran through her various notes that she had stored away in the back of her mind. The adult human body contains about 10-12 pints of blood, and can usually lose about one pint without harmful effects. However, loss of two pints may cause shock, and five or more usually led to death.

"Twenty minutes, I think." Eliza scrunched up her face in thought. "We were down at the southern point looking through an old storage facility, and suddenly everything just collapsed. I got hit by a falling beam."

"Uh huh. Alright. Has it been bleeding heavily, or lightly?" she hummed, gently pulling the skin apart to see how deep the wound was. She sucked in a breath through her teeth as the familiar red became visible. That was one part of her job that she would never get used to. The shade of red that made up the veins never failed to make her shudder.

"Somewhere in the middle, I guess. I haven't really been paying too much attention." Eliza laughed lightly, maybe a little dizzily.

"Alright. This is going to hurt, Eliza. I need to apply direct pressure over the wound, but to do that I need to cut away your pant leg." Ellie warned, grabbing for her scissors as she said it.

"Go for it." Eliza waved her off. "Not much more I can lose, anyway."

Ellie cut through the muddled brown fabric, the green stained deeply by the red. Peeling it away slowly, she murmured apologies at the pained sounds the other woman was making as she did so, leaning against the short metal headboard of the bed that she was half laying on. Placing the scissors back on the small, portable table, she stood, lining her hands up above the main point of the wound before leaning down and putting pressure onto it.

She kept an eye on the clock up on the wall, doing her best not to shift as blood seeped out past the other several inches of the wound, though it was showing signs of slowing. Ellie internally sighed in relief: it was a good sign.

The hands on the clock ticked by painfully slowly, as they always did, but eventually, the fifteen minute mark hit. Pulling back, Ellie was pleased to see that the bleeding had almost completely stopped, though Eliza's leg was now coated in semi hardened blood.

"Well? What's the verdict, doc?" Eliza asked dryly, pulling herself up to see the wound for herself.

"You're going to live." she returned with a grin, pulling off the gloves and throwing them out before grabbing a new pair to pull on. She then grabbed a cloth and placed it in a shallow bowl of warm water for a few moments before going back to wash away the blood. "But, you're going to need stitches."

"Go for it. I highly doubt I could be in much more pain right now." Eliza assured her, leaning her head back.

"Already ahead of you." she snickered, grabbing antiseptic cream and applying it gently to the wound. There was a relieved sigh from Eliza, and after putting it away, she grabbed her needle and suture. Looking at the wound critically, she decided to use an interrupted stitch. It would keep the wound the most protected from infection in comparison to the others that she could use, and would be the most comfortable for her should she want to be up and around. Although, it would be very limited movement for the next several days.

It went relatively quickly after that. Ellie taped gauze over the stitches to keep the area clean, and Eliza was regaining color, but she was going to keep her overnight so that she could keep an eye on her.

"You feeling ready for visitors, or should we move you to another bed so I can get these sheets cleaned?" Ellie yawned, still feeling tired. What she wouldn't give for a mug of coffee right now…

"I should probably move." Eliza said, making a face at the bloody fabric that she was situated on. "Besides, you probably don't want me leaving, do you?"

"Uh huh." Ellie muttered absently, pulling off the gloves and throwing them out. "I want to make sure that you don't get an infection in the next couple of hours, and all you really need other than that is a ton of rest and ibuprofen for your leg."

"That sounds like a plan." Eliza acknowledged, pulling her legs over the side of the bed and shifting, seeing how the stitches felt. Ellie knew that feeling far too well, having been on the receiving end of a similar injury once or twice. Offering Eliza an arm, she pulled the other woman up, supporting her bad side and moving her to the nearest bed, which only happened to be about ten feet away. Luckily, Eliza wasn't being a deadweight, so the mission was complete in only a matter of seconds.

After she had been settled in and IV's double checked, Ellie reluctantly went over to the door and unlocked it before allowing the rest of the SRT to come in.

Marcus was in the lead, which was no surprise already, followed by Lex. Ellie had the feeling that Marcus and Lex were pretty close to their Captain.

Crossing her arms, she didn't even notice when Fig entered with a cup of coffee until he put a hand on her shoulder. Lazily, she turned her head, still a little too out of it to react as she usually did. Which entailed a lot of violence. Instead, she honed in on the cup of coffee in his hand, which he was offering her with a wry grin.

"I brought you your coffee, _chica_." He offered simply as she snatched it from his fingers and downed it in only three mouthfuls. How she managed to accomplish such feats was beyond him, but he wasn't about to disagree with the mocha skinned woman. Not if he wanted to live a little longer, anyway.

"Thank you so fucking much." Ellie sighed contentedly, feeling the warmth of the caffeine spread through her veins. "I feel like a truck ran me over. And I'm tired."

"You get used to it." Fig said sympathetically, patting her shoulder. "So, other than that, how's your day been going?"

"Well, if the fact that I just spent about an hour and a half working on an SRT Captain's leg, I'm doing pretty good now that I've had some coffee. But now I can't leave cause she's staying overnight."

"Sucks to be you."

"Fig, I suggest you shut up. I'm still annoyed with you for the whole intrusion of my privacy thing when I first got here."

"It was…two weeks ago." The Spanish speaking male finally said, looking a little shocked. "Wow. Time flies."

"No. It crawls. I would know."

"How?"

"Well….let's just say Leon and Emergency Room." Ellie shrugged. "It sucked when I had to wait three hours to see her after she crashed the truck into the kiddy pool in the backyard."

"I don't even want to know." Fig sighed before checking the time. "Well, time to train. I'll see you later?"

"Maybe." Ellie yawned. "If I'm still awake."

Fig laughed as he walked away, boots clicking against the floor.

Ellie flipped him the bird before walking over to her desk and looking at the flat surface before wiping off an invisible speck of dirt and crawling onto it. It looked a lot more comfortable than the floor, and the beds were solely for patients only. She still didn't get that rule. There were way more beds in here than she could count! What was _one_ bed?

Grumbling to herself, she rolled onto her side and used her arm as a pillow before dozing, not even caring that the SRT was watching her do so. They could suck it up if they didn't like it. She was the temporary CMO, and therefore this was her desk. She could do whatever she damn well wanted with it.

-;-

Epps and Lennox entered the Med-Bay a couple hours later, only to find the room dark.

Glancing at each other, they flicked on the lights.

Lennox noted the SRT Captain laying on her bed, face turned to the side as her pillow attempted to block out the low snores coming from somewhere over to the left. Curious, Epps turned to look before sighing and facepalming.

Ellie was sleeping on the desk, curled into the tiniest ball that she could, snoring. They would have found the scene cute if she wasn't drooling all over said desk. Actually, scratch that. She did look pretty cute, almost like a toddler considering her arms were nearly covering her face.

Epps' face softened as she snuffled softly in her sleep, and he walked over to the desk. Carefully, he worked his arms under her slender frame so that he was cradling her bridal style in his arms. The young woman sighed contentedly, mumbling something in her sleep before turning her head and nuzzling into Epps' warm collarbone. Epps laughed silently at her furrowed brows as her hands curled around his shirt, and he automatically was reminded of how she had done the same when she was younger.

Lennox found himself smiling at the scene between the two. Annabelle did something similar with him whenever she fell asleep on the floor back at the ranch. Suddenly, he wished that he was with Sarah and his daughter, curled up on the couch as a family. He wanted to tuck Annabelle into bed and press a kiss onto her forehead before going back downstairs and just enjoying his wife's company until they too, went to bed.

But he realized that he had nothing in comparison to his best friend. Epps hadn't seen his niece for years, and he deserved to enjoy his happiness. Besides, he would be seeing his precious daughter in mere months. Perhaps Epps and his family would come for a visit again this year.

"I'm taking Ellie back to her room." Epps whispered as he brushed past his friend. "I'll catch up with you later."

Lennox smiled and nodded before making sure that nothing was out of place before turning the lights back off and leaving.

-;-

Epps found Ellie's room without much difficulty: after all, it was in between the infirmary and the Autobot hangar.

Nudging open the door, he carried his niece over to the bed and lay her down. However, she had a rather tight grip on his shirt, and it took him a couple of minutes to gently pry her fingers off of the fabric.

She gave an unhappy snuff in her sleep, brows furrowing further as she curled up on her side. Epps smiled softly, pulling the covers up over her, making sure that her boots were removed first, of course. That accomplished, he stood there for a moment, soaking in Ellie's appearance.

She'd changed since he'd last seen her. There was no longer many signs of the little girl he'd used to bounce on his knee and giggle. She'd grown up into a young woman. A fine young woman, at that. She was a nurse, and from he'd heard, a national champion in kickboxing and a state champion in muay thai. Idly, he wondered if she'd played soccer at all. He recalled that she'd always loved the sport, and had always begged him to play with her whenever he and Monica visited his brother. She'd had shorter hair then, too. More baby fat.

But now, he could see that she was still Elina, still his niece.

Leaning down, he brushed back her bangs and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, as he'd used to do every time he had tucked her in when she had fallen asleep on his lap. Ellie had always loved him, and he knew now that even though she was more sarcastic, and mature, that she still loved him.

"Sleep well, Ellie." he whispered before exiting, watching her for another moment before closing the door with a soft click.

"_Night..." _Ellie whispered in her sleep.


	12. The Fun Has Arrived

_My dreams were all my own; I accounted for them to nobody; they were my refuge when annoyed- my dearest pleasure when free. _

_-Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley_

-;-

Ellie wandered down to the mess hall, her eyes for once not half lidded. After waking up in her own bed, which had been slightly disorienting considering that she'd fallen asleep on her desk in the infirmary, she'd gone to said infirmary to check on Eliza.

Apparently, she'd been very relieved to wake up to no snoring.

After a quick check, Ellie allowed the SRT Captain to leave, although she was to use a crutch until the stitches had begun to heal. Otherwise, it would be a risk of opening the wound again, and if she was perfectly honest, Ellie did not feel like re-stitching Eliza's leg.

From there, she'd gone back to her own room to change out of the pajamas she'd been sleeping in for the last two nights and into actual clothing, which consisted of a white tank top, a pair of canvas capris, and white runners. She decided that her boots needed to air out for a while, considering that she'd had them for less than a week and they were already beginning to stink.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the familiar sound of a car engine caught her attention. Turning, she could see Bumblebee approaching, and out of instinct backed closer to the wall so that there would be less of a chance for her to get hit. Of course, by now she realized that Bee wouldn't _actually _hurt her on purpose...but there was always a chance, right?

"Morning, Bee." she greeted with a bright smile.

"_Hey there, little lady." _the Autobot greeted, a few clicks and whirs escaping as he did so. A few seconds later, he transformed up into his bipedal mode, and he crouched to offer her one of his servos. "_Need a lift?" _

"Such a gentleman." Ellie giggled, stepping onto the offered palm and grabbing onto his thumb, which was about her own height. "Thank you."

_"Anytime." _the 'bot waved off her thanks with a casual wave. Ellie tilted her head, completely at ease with the yellow 'bot. She'd even managed to get used to the fuzziness that came between the clips he used to speak. It was like she had known him for far longer than she actually had.

"So, what are you up to today?" she asked curiously as he carried her down the hall, his pedes travelling much quicker than her own small steps. "Anything new and exciting?"

Bumblebee shook his helm slowly, a look of what appeared to be thought crossing his face. _"Not that I can think of." _

As they approached the mess hall, Ellie tapped her palm onto the metal she was holding, and when the Autbot glanced at her, she gave him an apologetic half smile. "This is my stop."

Bumblebee looked depressed by the news, but bent down to let his charge hop down onto the ground. _"Try not to get into too much trouble." _a woman's stern tone told her through his radio, causing Ellie to laugh.

"Don't worry, Bee. I'll try not to send anyone to the infirmary today."

He vented, shaking his helm as he watched the femme walk over and get in the short line that was gathering to get what he had a feeling would be coffee. Ellie was hopelessly addicted to the caffeinated beverage, and wasn't able to function properly unless she had several cups of it in the morning. Now that he thought about it, coffee was slightly similar to High-Grade for the Autobots, only it wasn't.

Ah well. Shrugging, he transformed back down into his alt-mode and raced off, wanting to ask Ratchet about the humans and their addictions to coffee.

-;-

Ellie was in heaven. Inhaling the scent of coffee, she grabbed one of the styrofoam cups and poured herself a full cup of the steaming beverage before she chugged it. Wincing for a couple of moments, the burn settling in, she poured herself another cup, feeling more alert already.

Moving farther down the line, she found the oatmeal packets, and picked up a random one, grabbing one of the plastic bowls lying around and dumping in the powder lazily. Satisfied, she poured the boiling water over it, relazing as the scent of her breakfast wafted up to her nose. Nearly purring, she grabbed a spoon and stuck it in her mouth before making sure she had a firm hold on both her coffee and her oatmeal.

Spinning on her heel, Ellie's eyes roamed the large hall, looking for somewhere that she would be able to enjoy her meal in peace. She really wasn't in the mood to socialize, considering that in her books, it was still early, but by the looks of things she wasn't going to have much choice. Sighing softly to herself, she went for a table that was semi empty, aiming for the half that was currently unpopulated.

Weaving her way successfully through most of the soldiers, she finally made it to her seat and plopped herself down with a grunt. Not caring what anyone thought of the others might think of her, she dug into the oatmeal, not wanting to hang around long.

Unfortunately, her uncle and Lennox honed in on her, and she hunkered herself down, preparing for the worst.

"Ellie!" Epps grinned, taking a seat next to his niece and making a casual grab for the coffee that was sitting innocently by her palm. Said woman snapped at his fingers, teeth bared, and picked up the cup with a possessive hiss.

"Mine." she stated firmly before downing it.

Lennox rolled his eyes, seeing the familial similarities between the two dark skinned relatives. Propping his chin on his hand, he waved his other hand in front of Epps' face, snapping him out of his miniature argument that he had started with his niece.

"Right." Epps smacked his fist into his palm, a look of realization crossing his features. "Ellie, after you're done your breakfast, you're needed on the runway. There's a new shipment coming in this morning, and you're going to help unload."

"Why me?" Ellie raised a brow. Epps swallowed nervously before Lennox saved the day.

"We're a little low on free hands right now. Training starts right after breakfast, so there aren't many soldiers free to help out. Since you're not too busy at the moment, we thought that you would like to get to know our schedule and our base a little better."

It was a load of shit, and everyone surrounding the table knew it, but Ellie shrugged, accepting the excuse for what it was. "Alright. I can head out there now."

"Thank you." Lennox smiled, watching the mocha skinned woman walk off before turning on Epps. Cuffing him upside the head, he hissed, "You almost compromised this mission, you dumbass!"

Whimpering, Epps cowered beneath Lennox's furious death glare before pouting. "Sorry."

"You'd better be. Saving your ass like that. I do it far more often than I should." he rolled his eyes. "You think she'll like the surprise?"

Epps snorted. "Know so."

-;-

Ellie shaded her eyes in the morning light as she scanned the sky for any signs of the giant plane that would be bringing in the week's supplies, a yawn escaping as she did so.

There were a couple of other men out here with her, one of which she recognized from the SRT. He'd introduced himself as Michael, while the other guy was known as Bingo around the base. His real name, however, was Andy.

Finally, the dark shape became visible on the horizon, and she pointed it out to Andy. The man took a look of his own before shouting to Mike, and they began opening up the hangar that the supplies would be going into. Ellie thought it looked pretty cool, like something out of an Indiana Jones movie, but she kept that thought to herself and merely did as she was told.

"Alright!" Andy called over the sound of the plane engine, "We're gonna get the back of this thing open, and you're gonna make sure that nothing too serious happens to us!"

Grinning, he flashed her a thumbs up in reply to her playful scowl, and then the plane touched down, nearly knocking her off her feet with the vibration that tore through the ground. It was slightly unpleasant, she would admit.

-;-

Leon yawned, bored out of her skull. She'd plugged herself into her headphones hours ago, and then had proceeded to pass out while listening to some instrumental music from Lord knew what action movie.

She was woken from her nap as her pillow shifted, and she began to lose oxygen. Which wasn't exactly part of her plan of living to the ripe old age of ninety-something. She'd decided a long time ago that the world would keep her around for amusement purposes, and would make her suffer the entire time.

Yeah, she thought that was a pretty sound theory.

-;-

Ellie watched as the final box of something was unloaded off of the plane.

What she wasn't expecting was the person that walked off next.

_"LEON!?" _

-;-

Leon only had about two and a half seconds to brace herself before Ellie tackled her to the ground in a hug. All of the wind instantly knocked out of her lungs, she lay there gasping like a beached whale until she managed to catch her breath long enough to say, "Ellie. Off."

Ellie automatically got off, although her grin was so wide it was nearly blinding. Leon was here! On Diego Garcia!

"_Ohmygodit'syou!Ican'tbelieveyou'rehere!Howdidyougethere?" _she chattered at supersonic speeds. Leon had the feeling that her best friend had had at least two cups of coffee so far that morning. At least, she thought it was morning. She was feeling a little jet-lagged at the moment, so she wasn't really able to tell which was up at this particular point of time, but hopefully that feeling would go away quickly.

"I took a plane, obviously." she rolled her eyes, easily understanding the chipmunk type things that Ellie was spouting off. She'd had a few years to decipher it, after all. It was only natural that she would understand it perfectly and translate it back to normal human language. "Actually, Uncle Epps gave me a call...a couple of days ago, I think it was, and told me that you were homesick. Naturally, of course, we decided to surprise you."

Ellie's eyes widened, and for a moment she looked like she was about to start crying with happiness. _"We'lldealwiththatlatersinceyou'reprobablyjet-laggedandyoucansleepinmyroom becauseyoudon' ?" _

"Alright." Leon yawned, feeling tired.

"Come on." Ellie rolled her eyes, grabbing her friend's hand and her large backpack and dragging both off towards her room. "You need to sleep it off. How long are you staying?"

"A week." came the tired reply.

Ellie grinned, bursting on the insides with joy. Her best friend was here!


	13. Some Nights

_It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere. _

_-Agnes Repplier_

-;-

Leon rolled over, reaching out to curl into her best friend's side in her half asleep state. However, she quickly became more alert as she realized that she was alone in the bed, and the place that Ellie had been sleeping in was cool.

Humming in silent question, she blinked sleepily, waking herself up.

"Come on, Lion.." a voice crooned from the doorway. "Time to get up. You've been sleeping long enough."

"No." she attempted to burrow her way back under the blankets, but Ellie was one step ahead of her. Clicking her tongue, she held the blankets just out of reach, raising a brow when Leon made a rather animalistic growl and made to snatch them back.

"Leon, you've been sleeping for long enough. It's almost two in the afternoon, and I want to go to the lagoon. It's freaking _hot _out."

"Beach?" Leon perked up instantly. "There's beaches here?"

Ellie gave her best friend a deadpan stare before snorting. "Leon, we're on an island. Of course there's beaches. Now hurry up and get changed. Do you need to borrow one of my tops?"

"I didn't know there were _beaches_, Ellie. Not ocean. There's always ocean." Leon retorted, stretching before standing and seeking out her large backpack. Unzipping it, she skillfully rummaged through it and pulled out a pair of dark green jean shorts and a matching bikini top. Gnawing at her lip for a moment, she pulled out the bikini bottoms to wear underneath the shorts.

Ellie rolled her eyes, getting down on her hands and knees to pull out her suitcase from under the bed. Grabbing her yellow bikini and jean shorts to wear overtop, she began stripping, neither of the women caring about appearances. They'd gone to the gym together, shared a room for several years, and been a part of a womens soccer team. There wasn't anything they hadn't seen before, especially since they'd both gone through 'experimental phases' a couple of years before.

Several minutes later found themselves dressed and giggling as Ellie led her down the hall to the Autobot hangar. She'd been told earlier that all of the Autobots were on their best behavior, and would not transform in front of Leon while she was staying at the base.

As the giant doors slid open, Leon's eyes grew to epic proportions as she took in all of the very shiny, very expensive vehicles parked in the hangar, and started to sneak off in the direction of the Stingray before Ellie sighed and dragged her off towards Bee. Sideswipe was totally going to owe her for keeping her crazy mechanic friend from attempting to get under his hood. Literally.

"Oh my freaking God, Ellie. You never told me that you had an entire collection of sexy cars here!" Leon breathed as Ellie opened the drivers side door and climbed in. Leon quickly turned her sights on the Camaro, and she stroked the smooth surface of Bumblebee's hood before she climbed in.

"It never actually came up." Ellie shrugged before her seat shuddered lightly. "Oh, and by the way: Leon, meet Bumblebee. Bumblebee, Leon."

"This is the mysterious Camaro you told me about?" Leon asked, pulling the seatbelt down over her chest and clicking it into place. Ellie did the same, pitying Bee. She knew he liked to do it himself whenever she was in the front, and not doing it now had to be a little difficult for him to deal with.

"Yep. And for the time being, he's mine." Ellie replied smugly, turning the key in the ignition and having the satisfaction of Leon nearly die from sexy car overload. "And I'm telling you right now, if I catch you drooling, you are going to be in so much shit."

"Yes Ma'am." Leon mock saluted, her eyes not leaving the dashboard in front of her, looking like she wanted to hug it in joy. Rolling her eyes, Ellie turned her attention to the radio.

"Playlist Nine: Play." she grinned, stoked to hear some of the music that she and the Autobot had compiled the other day. "Track Eleven, Some Nights."

_"Some nights I stay up cashing in my bad luck. _

_Some nights I call it a draw._

_Some nights I wish that my lips could build a castle_

_Some nights I wish they'd just fall off."_

Ellie found herself laughing as the bass rumbled through the entire frame of the Camaro, and she waved cheerily at a couple of soldiers that were passing by as she navigated her way through the halls with decent skill. Leon now looked like she wanted to take Bumblebee apart piece by piece to see how he worked, but Ellie had absolutely no intentions of letting her anywhere near any of the Autobots.

"You like?" she mouthed to her best friend, who turned her head slowly, jaw gaping, and nodded eagerly. Feeling mischievous, Ellie rolled down the windows as they finally hit the exit of the base, the sun beating down on the hood of the vehicle and beginning to heat up the interior.

_"...But I still wake up, I still see your ghost. _

_Oh Lord, I'm still not sure what I stand for, oh. _

_What do I stand for? What do I stand for?_

_Most nights I still don't know...(oh, come on)"_

The radiot continued to play, and by now, both women had started to sing along, knowing the words quite well considering that they had played it on repeat at home. Ellie tapped her hands on the steering wheel, not actually in control of where they were going, but in control of the speed. It was a new experience, considering she was usually the passenger and had now been handed the partial key to freedom.

And holy hell, was she ever going to enjoy it while it lasted.

Once they'd gotten to the paved road, she floored it, trusting Bumblebee to make sure that they would stay on the road on their way to the lagoon. Ellie shook her head to rid herself of the pesky strands of hair that decided that her eyes were a much better place to settle than up in her ponytail.

"Track Nineteen, Welcome to the Show." she told Bee, her grin widening as the familiar carnival music introduced the song before warping into a techno beat.

_"Now's the time, get in line, don't be afraid tonight_

_We're gonna take you high, before you realize_

_'Round and 'round you'll go, up and down, never slow_

_Feel the excitement grow, oh_

_This is where you let go."_

Her head bobbed to the beat as she mouthed the words, hearing Leon squeal in delight as they hit a pothole. Sighing contentedly, Ellie relaxed, feeling her warm skin beginning to stick to Bee's leather seats. She would have to give him a good wash later, clean out his interior...

She began to compile a list of what she could do in her head, tuning out Leon's excited giggles at the music, scenery, and, of course, the Camaro that she was currently sitting in.

She'd missed this in the short time that she had been away. Not having Leon around was a bit of a blow to Ellie, and now that Leon was visiting, she had to wonder what kind of strings had to be pulled for anyone to even _consider _letting a non-military person on the base. She so owed Lennox and her uncle for this one. And she had a feeling that they knew it. But she could sense that they had honestly wanted her to not feel as homesick on the base, which was a sweet thought. After all, they were both grown men, and as all men so often did, they had reputations to uphold.

"Ellie..." Leon waved a hand vaguely to one side, catching the mocha skinned woman's attention after several moments. "You zoned out again."

"I kind of gathered that, Lion." she huffed, sticking her tongue out. The other woman's brown eyes narrowed, and she pouted, looking hurt at her friend's lack of thanks.

"Soooo...how are you and Alex?"

Leon coughed on her spit as the question was thrown at her seemingly from out of nowhere, and she looked at Ellie like she was nuts. "You're kidding me, right?" she asked, the usual deer in the headlights expression plastered all over her face. "The day before I left, I nailed him in the nose with a wrench. I think I broke it, but he wouldn't let me take him to the hospital or anything!"

Ellie resisted the urge to bash her head against the steering wheel. That was Leon for you. Complete and utter klutz _and _impossible with boys.

"Did you at least apologize?"

"Of course I apologized! I was nearly in tears!" Leon protested hotly, crossing her arms and shifting so that she could better glare at Ellie. "Besides, it wasn't like I had any moral support there! You're here now, remember? I don't have anyone to talk to, other than Jess the Penguin."

"You know, there is such thing as getting a pet." Ellie groaned, facepalming for a second before glancing over at Leon. "We've been considering getting a dog. Why don't you get one when you get back?"

"That's a good idea.." Leon hummed thoughtfully, rubbing her chin. "I pick the breed, you pick the name?"

"I thought that was going to be the plan." Ellie said before stiffening. "But remember: no punts. If I come back to visit and you've gotten a Chihuahua...so help me got I am going to use it for soccer practice."

"Relax, Ellie. You know I hate small dogs. I was thinking a Beagle or a Cocker Spaniel."

The two submerged themselves into an in depth conversation about which breeds were best and why, and Bumblebee found himself completely lost after they started going off about tails.

Femmes. They had a language all their own.

-;-

"Oh God, you're right! It does look like Cuba!" Leon squealed as Ellie parked Bumblebee right on the sands, seeing the already set up volleyball nets and various coolers scattered around. Ellie caught a glimpse of Ironhide parked underneath a thick tree, the shade falling over his large Topkick form. She snorted as she unbuckled and climbed out, inhaling the air before shuddering at the heat.

"Race you to the water!" she yelled before taking off, nearly tripping in the deep sand. She heard Leon screech several seconds later, and she paused to turn to check to make sure that she hadn't suffered any serious injuries from this fall.

"You know I'm a klutz!" Leon raged as she chased Ellie towards the water, her hair already coated in sand.

"Should I be concerned about drowning, or will you live?" Ellie called mockingly over her shoulder as her feet hit water. Seconds later, she dove, the sandy bottom of the ocean dropping off suddenly and revealing the crystal clear water.

There was silence under the water, but as soon as she surfaced, Leon's calls made her roll her eyes and start front crawling back to the other woman.

"Sorry mother." she said sarcastically, recieving a faceful of water for the comment.

"I take offense to that!"

"That's nice, dear."

"Ugh!"

"Angry, are we?"

"No shit, Sherlock."

Ellie snickered. It was far too easy to rile up Leon. The fact that she had a fairly short fuse didn't exactly hurt, either. In fact, Ellie found it all the more amusing to tease and taunt her roommate. It added a sense of danger to her life.

Again, other than the intergalactic sentient alien robot war. That was in a category all its own.

-;-

It wasn't much later that another group of soldiers arrived, bringing with them the wonders that were alcohol. And of course, Leon, being Leon, honed in on the alcoholic substances almost immediately. Ellie followed close behind to make sure that no one lost any limbs. Leon could be fairly aggressive when it came to alcohol. She could recall one incident when someone had tried to spike her drink at a bar.

The guy had left in an ambulance about twenty minutes later, and charges had been filed against said male for even trying to spike Leon's drink. The bartender had given her a drink on the house. Apparently the guy tried to spike a lot of the womens drinks, but had been unsuccessful every time. Thanks to Leon's...favor of violence...he would no longer be able to come back to the bar. And probably wouldn't be able to move his arm right for a good long while.

Leon grabbed a beer and popped the cap off with a hand casually before turning to Ellie with another beer held out invitingly.

"I'm good, honey. Besides, I've gotta drive." she declined, raising a brow as Leon grinned.

"If you say so. Just means more for me." the brunette shrugged before Ellie led her away from the coolers and over to a couple of beach chairs nearby. If Leon was going to drink, it was probably for the best to get her sitting down. It was much easier to keep an eye on her that way.

-;-

Lennox and Epps arrived to the beach only to find the two women they'd come to see doing victory dances around a team of men on the volleyball court. Looking at each other slowly, they hesitantly backed away slowly.

They really didn't want to know what had happened.

-;-

"That, was so cool!" Leon hiccupped from next to Ellie as they drove back to base. The setting sun painted its colors across the sky, and Ellie absently patted Bee's wheel as her seat trembled lightly. Smiling, she turned to Leon, feeling completely worn out.

"Yeah, it was." she admitted. Although Leon had downed alcohol like it was going out of style, and then had proceeded to kick the guys asses at volleyball, it had been fun. "But wait until tomorrow: I'm going to take you through the obstacle course."

"Obstacle course? _COOL!" _Leon cheered, making Ellie wince at the volume. Rolling down her window, she let the warm air blow across her face, and sighed as the sound of the wind dampened Leon's voice to a more normal volume.

"Just wait until tomorrow. Then we'll see who's cheering." she grinned to herself, content as she basked in the company of her best friend.

Oh yes. There would be much pain in store for the overly confident brunette.


	14. Bonding Time

_All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope. _

_-Sir Winston Churchill_

-;-

Skidz knew he was in one hell of a lot of trouble when he came back to base. He could feel the murderous vibes coming off of Epps, and he had a bad feeling that if he so much as uttered one more word, they would allow him to offline him. Slowly, and painfully.

That is, if there was anything left of him once Ratchet was through with him. The Medic had it out for him due to the fact that the femme had sustained injuries while under his 'care', and apparently he was ready to re-format him into a toaster oven.

Mudflap had been under scrutiny the entire his twin had been missing, even though he had clearly had no part of the kidnapping that had taken place, and was still sulking. Of course, that could also be because he had been sent out on a mission with some of the soldiers to keep him busy.

Unfortunately, what a certain mocha skinned woman didn't know was that Skidz was back on base. And everyone planned on keeping it that way.

Also unfortunate was the fact that most plans of this nature never seemed to work out.

-;-

"Rise and shine, Lion!" Ellie grinned devilishly as she yanked the covers off of her best friend. "We've got a busy day ahead of us, and if you don't get up in the next five minutes you're going to miss breakfast!"

Those magical words did the trick, and not even a minute later, Leon was dressed, though she was glowering at her best friend. The drinking idea hadn't turned out to be a good idea. Leon usually woke up the next morning with one hell of a hangover, and Ellie didn't even want to remember the usual banter they shared as Leon worshipped the porcelain god.

"I hate you." Leon snarled as she pulled on a baggy black hoodie over her tanktop and pullig the hood up to dim the lights shining above them. "I don't know why you fucking let me drink when I always end up like this."

"I would stop you, but if I tried you would beat me to death with the bottle of alcohol you were drinking at the time." Ellie replied, feeling much more cheery now that she wasn't the only non-morning person on base. Well, of the women, anyway. She couldn't exactly vouch for the men considering that she didn't sleep anywhere near them. And even if she did, Epps would make sure that she stayed well away from them until she recieved her usual dose of coffee.

"I hate it when you're right..." Leon moaned as they made their way to the main hall of sorts, which was pretty much just the mess hall. "Is there any coffee?"

Ellie rolled her eyes and gave the brunette a deadpan stare. "Do you really think that there would be this many people still alive if there wasn't?"

"You have a point." Leon nodded before wincing. "I still remember that one guy in the coffee shop..."

"He got between me and my coffee. It was his own fault." Ellie sniffed disdainfully, looking away.

"Yeah, yeah." Leon waved her off.

Before Ellie could retort, two small cars that she hadn't seen before cruised by, the windows tinted so that she couldn't catch a glimpse of who was inside, if anyone.

"Uh..Ellie, do I even want to know why a Chevvy Beat and Trax just drove by?" Leon jutted a thumb over her shoulder, throwing a quick glance at said vehicles for good measure.

"Beats me. I haven't seen them around base before..." the mocha skinned woman replied, mystified. "I'll ask Uncle Epps about it later."

-;-

Later didn't actually manage to come around until later, after both women had had the necessary amounts of caffeine to jumpstart them for the day. The soldiers who had come to notice Ellie as a regular occurrence decided as they watched the two women interact that they would not get in their way in the morning if they valued their lives. One was bad enough, but now that there were two of them...it made several men shudder.

"Good morning, Elina!" a rather cheery Eliza greeted as she limped along, helped by Marcus. "How are you?"

"Hey Captain." Ellie saluted cheekily with two fingers before shrugging. "I'm doing pretty well. How's your leg?"

Eliza winced accordingly while making a face. "Could be better. I'll be much happier when I'm allowed to actually _do _something."

It was only as Leon went to take a sip of her fourth cup of coffee that Eliza noticed that there was another woman standing there. A look of slight surprise shot across her features before she smiled and offered the hungover brunette a hand.

"Captain Eliza Barnes." she introduced.

"Leon." Leon yawned in reply, offering a hand in return.

Marcus and Ellie, at this point, were having a rather nasty staring contest, Ellie looking like she wanted nothing more than to beat the living crap out of the man. Likewise, Marcus looked as though he wanted to say something nasty, but was refusing to because his commanding officer happened to be right beside him. Ellie smirked before breaking eye contact, going back to drinking her coffee like nothing had happened.

Eliza and Leon shared a long suffering look. It seemed as though they both had childish friends they needed to train.

"It was nice meeting you." Leon smiled as Eliza began dragging Marcus off, ignoring his whines of pain. She then turned on Ellie, who at least had the decency to look shamed.

"Ellie, honestly. Play nice. You're acting like he took your crayons."

"Maybe he did."

"I doubt it." Leon rolled her eyes before catching sight of Epps. "Hey, is that your uncle?"

Ellie turned to look for a moment before grimacing. "Unfortunately. Don't make eye contact. He tends to react to that kind of stuff."

"Dare I ask?" Leon sighed, looking skyward.

"I don't advise it." Ellie replied before she moved out of the way so that one of the men could walk by.

"Good morning, Ellie. Leon." Epps greeted cheerily, slinging his arms around both womens shoulders. "How are my two favourite ladies this fine morning?"

"Better if you weren't here." Ellie replied automatically with a smirk, shrugging off her uncle's hand on her shoulder before jabbing a spoon in his direction threateningly. "Now, I suggest you get lost before I jab you with a spoon."

Epps laughed nervously at the dangerous glint in his niece's eyes, and he slowly retracted his hand from Leon's shoulder before making a hasty retreat.

"So, you ready to go change into something more comfortable, or are you alright getting those clothes dirty?" Ellie turned to Leon, acting as though she hadn't just been making threats on her uncle's life.

The look on her best friend's face had Leon's neck prickling. Looking over herself, she shrugged. "I'm fine with this."

Ellie eyed her pants for a moment before sighing. "Actually, you'll probably want to change into canvas pants and runners." she mused. "Otherwise you'll probably go and get yourself overheated and pass out, and I'd rather not have to socialize with you in the Med Bay."

Leon shrugged. The bad feeling was still there, but she was feeling pretty game now that the caffeine from the coffee was kicking in. "Alright. Let's go get changed then."

-;-

Bumblebee was suddenly very worried.

Skidz and Mudflap were freely wandering around base, regardless of if it was in their alt-modes or not. Gently turning a corner, he watched the twins as they cruised along innocently, windows tinted so that no one would be able to tell that there were no drivers behind the wheels.

He wasn't quite worried enough to actually warn the other Autobots yet, but at this rate Elina would run into them. And knowing the mocha skinned woman, she'd come to them for answers later, which would lead to her learning who the two 'bots were. From there, Bumblebee could only assume that things would go downhill from there.

What the scout didn't know, however, was that the woman he was trying to keep the twins away from had already seen them, effectively scrapping any and all of his plans on the spot.

But he didn't know that.

-;-

"Holy _shit_."

Ellie barely spared Leon a glance as she began stretching, a smirk crossing her features as her best friend took in the obstacle course. It was quite understandable that Leon would be shocked about something like this. She was pretty sure the mechanic was allergic to anything sports or effort related, but if that was the case than there was the exception for her job as a mechanic.

"Ellie, you're not _really _gonna make me do this with you...right?" Leon asked, laughing nervously.

The brunette had changed into a baggy t-shirt that was currently hanging loosely off of one shoulder, revealing most of the left side of her sports bra and chest, along with a pair of canvas capris and a pair of older runners. Her longer mane had been momentarily tamed by one of her extra strength elastics, though there were already small ringlets escaping the high tail that it had been dragged into.

"Hmmm...if I said no, I'd be lying...so...yeah. You're doing it with me." Ellie grinned, ducking several moments later as Leon lunged for her throat. Her stretches disrupted, she began baiting Leon around, bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet. It had been a good long while since Leon had been around, and what better way to amp up the competition than to rile up said competition?

After several minutes, Ellie finally grew bored of taunting Leon, and she easily dodged her best friend as she tried to hit her, instead grabbing her arm and hauling her over her shoulder. The brunette landed heavily, dust pooling around them as Leon gasped for breath and Ellie snickered.

"Lion, I thought we gathered a long time ago that you don't have a chance in hell in trying to take me down?" she teased lightly.

"I...fucking...hate..you..." the brunette snapped breathlessly, making a slight flail motion with her hands as she did so. "Now...some help up...would be nice.."

"I know you do. But just think, sweetie. You get to attempt to kick my ass in this obstacle course." Ellie put a hand out, pulling Leon to her feet and patting her mockingly on the shoulder. "And then we get to go take cold showers, and then we can crash back in the room. Sound like a plan?"

Leon's eye took on a familiar gleam that Ellie was nearly shivering in delight to see. It was the competitive look in her eye that she got every time that she was challenged by either a piece of heavy machinery, or by Ellie.

"Let's do this, my sexy mocha woman." Leon grinned suddenly, cracking her knuckles loudly.

-;-

"Is it just me, or is Ellie's friend not doing so well on the course?" Epps asked, sharing a look with Lennox as they watched the two women as they made their way through the obstacle course at their own paces.

Ellie was in the clear lead, easily near the halfway point, while Leon was barely at a quarter of the way through. And said brunette was not fairing well. She was visibly lagging behind, and Ellie paused to glance behind her. Grinning, she cupped her hands around her mouth before yelling something. The two men couldn't quite pick out what exactly she said, considering that they were safe in the cooler hangar while they were out in the sun, but whatever it was, it certainly had the other woman able to speed up.

"Well, now we know whose side of the family she takes after." Lennox joked as Ellie clambered away from the now raging Leon.

Epps chuckled, patting his friend on the shoulder right back. "That's where you're wrong, Will." the black man snickered. "She's her mother's daughter."

Lennox blinked, looking back at the two women as Epps walked off, whistling a cheery tune to himself.

The base was screwed.


	15. Intent and Purpose

_In the end, it's not going to matter how many breaths you took, but how many moments took your breath away. _

_-Shing Xiong_

-;-

The remaining five days of Leon's stay flew by to Ellie, and before she knew it, they were at day six. Leon had already finished packing, mostly due to the fact that she knew she wouldn't end up leaving otherwise.

Currently, the two women were relaxing on the top of the platforms in the obstacle course, their heads leaned toward one another as both enjoyed the sunrise.

"I don't want you to leave yet, Lion." Ellie murmured, burrowing her head into her best friend's shoulder. "It's nice having you actually here instead of yelling at me over the phone."

Leon yawned before smirking and running her hand through Ellie's hair affectionately. "I know, right?"

Ellie rolled her eyes, lightly punching Leon's leg before falling silent. "So what are we gonna do today? It's your last day."

She couldn't really think of much, considering the fact that Leon was _so _not allowed to know about the Autobots.

Leon's face split into a grin that Ellie had less than affectionately dubbed 'the shit eating grin', and the mocha skinned woman suddenly had a very bad feeling.

"You know how there are those paintball guns used in the mock battle situations...?"

-;-

_"Mocha to Lion. I am in position. What's your status?" _

_"Page recieved, Mocha. Lion is ready to pounce." _

Ellie shifted in the dark catsuit Leon had packed, though for what reasons the brunette would pack them were far beyond her, and adjusted the ballistic vest that she was wearing over her torso. The headset tucked neatly over her high ponytail was beginning to itch, and the dark glasses she was wearing weren't exactly helping either. Although she had to admit, Leon did know how to make them look like assassins. Had to have come from all the violent movies and shows she watched. Although at this point, the dark catsuit was splattered with paint, and she could feel more paint seeping through the fabric and collar. It was highly unpleasant.

_"Lion to Mocha. Target sighted." _the headset came to life, and Leon's business-like tone came over. The brunette was stationed in one of many airvents in the hallways, waiting for their target.

Pressing the side of her headset, Ellie smirked.

_"Page recieved. Fire at will, Lion." _

_"With pleasure, ma'am." _Leon cackled.

Several seconds later, the sounds of girlish shrieks reached Ellie's ears, and she adjusted her positioning so that she was standing directly in the middle of the hall. The heeled boots she was wearing were actually quite comfortable considering that they looked like they belonged in an action movie. Maybe Catwoman...

The screams drew closer, snapping Ellie out of her thoughts. Crouching slightly, she brought the barrel of the gun up and sighted down the surface, preparing herself for the shot. She struggled to keep her face serious even as she was internally laughing. This had to be one of Leon's best ideas, hands down.

It was a shame that she was leaving so soon and leaving all the bruises and whining that would be coming to Ellie, though.

And then her target came into view from around the corner.

Epps had been splattered in paint. And not just any paint, mind you. Neon green paint.

At seeing her waiting for him, he tried screeching to a stop, but it was too late. With several surprisingly well aimed shots, neon yellow was added to the clash of paint on her uncle.

Cackling, she took off, gun slung over her shoulder, knowing that if she made it back to the Med Bay that she would be safe. After all, no one entered her Med Bay unless they had to. Kind of like the stories she'd heard of Ratchet. Apparently she and the Autobot Medic were somehow related. That or they'd been having secret meetings on how to torture the members of the base.

Sliding around the next corner, she narrowly avoided being run over by the Chevy Beat and Trax that had been continuously cruising around base for the last week.

"Watch where you're driving, assholes!" she snapped, launching herself onto the hood of the Trax before jumping over the back and continuing on her way. Honestly, those two, (considering that she was almost positive that they were Autobots) had just been getting in the way of everything she had been doing since Leon had arrived.

It only took another couple of minutes to get to the Med Bay, and she bolted in before locking the door behind her. She didn't know if anyone was following her, but at this point she wasn't going to be opening the door to anyone but Leon. Speaking of which, where was Leon?

_"Lion to Mocha, I've got trouble!" _Leon screeched over the headset suddenly. _"I require backup immediately to Delta-Nine!" _

_"Mocha to Lion: I'm on it. How many?" _

_"Tacobell, Blackjack, and by the looks of it, Bootstrap. Obviously you didn't do a good enough job of taking care of your uncle!" _Leon retorted. _"And there's backup on the way for these guys. Hurry up, they're armed to the teeth!" _

_"I'm on it." _Ellie replied calmly before moving to the back of the room, checking on the remaining weapons that they had managed to capture in this battle. There was still more than enough ammo for her current choice of weapon, and she grabbed a couple more cartridges of the paintballs to stick in her vest before she snagged another smaller gun. Quickly, she loaded the paintballs into each gun before she dubbed herself as ready. Taking a deep breath, she ignored the screeches coming from Leon's end and went over to the door, making sure the coast was clear before heading into the danger zone.

It wasn't all that hard to figure out where Leon had been held up, considering she could hear said woman cussing out her opponents from four halls over.

Cautiously, she looked around before checking around the corner.

There were three soldiers, all of them armed with what appeared to be orange paint. Where had all of her and Leon's allies disappeared to? They had started off with a good thirty, but now it appeared that there was only the two women left.

Moving back around, taking care not to make any loud noises, Ellie grinned to herself before whirling, firing off wildly. Somehow, she managed to hit all three of the men in their chests. Dramatically, they proceeded to 'die', leaving Ellie in stitches for a few moments before she relieved the now 'dead' soldiers of their weapons and paint.

She continued down the hall, taking down anyone who dared get in her way before raiding their paint. When she finally hit the final corner, she was armed with almost every colour of the rainbow. Peeking her head around slightly, she had the urge to facepalm.

Leon was still in her vent, and she cackled as she took down the soldiers. Apparently she had become just as amused as Ellie had about the dramatic flailing as the soldiers 'died'.

Not seeing her uncle or Lennox anywhere in the vicinity, she knew exactly what tactic she would have to use in order to distract most, if not all, the men from Leon. She was just hoping that her uncle didn't show up as she was doing it. He was just a little overprotective of his only niece, and it probably wouldn't bode well for her if she was caught. Or anyone else, for that matter.

Clearing her throat lightly, she stepped into the hallway, removing her glasses as she did so. Smoothly, she adopted a pout as they raised their guns, gnawing at her bottom lip nervously. She knew that she had curves, and the catsuit really wasn't doing anything to hide that fact. The heeled boots were making her legs look nice and long as well, she knew. Hopefully it would be enough to give Leon some time to take them all out.

Carefully, she began pushing her arms in, something she knew would act as a sort of push-up bra, and wondered why the hell Leon wasn't sniping all of the soldiers while she had the chance. Sneaking a glance, she rolled her eyes. Of course Leon was checking her out. Slowly, so as to not alarm anyone, she brought her paintball gun up before unleashing hell.

The men dropped like flies after that. Leon snapped out of whatever little daze she had been in, and she was back at her cackling as she went after pretty much anything that so much as twitched.

_"ELINA ROSA EPPS! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?"_

"Shit." Ellie swore before looking at Leon. "Lion, pull me up!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Leon replied cheerfully with a small salute.

Ellie chanced a glance behind her before running and leaping off of several small crates packed neatly underneath the vent, and was quickly hauled in by Leon. Not a moment later, Epps attempted the same thing, raging all the while.

_"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!? THIS IS AN ARMY BASE, NOT A STRIP CLUB!" _

Ellie slid further back, Leon beside her, and calmly reloaded the paintball gun with a look of complete serenity. Leon knew this look quite well, having been on the recieving end of what was to come many a time before. All she could do was snicker quietly as her best friend waited for her raging uncle to make an appearance in the opening of the vent.

As soon as his forehead came into view, Ellie fired.

Smack dab in the centre of Epps' forehead was a bright pink splatter. Unfortunately, Ellie didn't have time to admire her work due to the fact that the force had sent the man flying back down to earth in a rather unpleasant manner.

"Don't mess with a chick who has a paintball gun." Ellie said casually, poking her head out of the vent. "We tend to be a little aggressive."

-;-

Now, it was a good half hour later that Epps had finally finished his screaming at both Ellie and all of the poor rookies who had fallen victim to the mocha woman's trick. Ellie basically tuned out everything that was being said, considering that she really had no reason to be listening. She would be back in the Med Bay soon enough anyway, and that was going to be a punishment in itself considering that both she and Leon were the reason that about half of the occupants were there.

What disappointed her was that there had been no signs of the Autobots other than the two Chevys that had been driving around during the entire thing. She would have liked to see Bumblebee with a splatter or two of pink or lime green. Or even Ironhide. That would have been far more entertaining than Bumblebee. There were no arguments whatsoever on that one.

Finally, she raised her hand, interruppting the thought process of Epps, who was by now red in the face. "Uncle Epps...Leon and I should probably go get the paint off of ourselves before it dries."

Epps looked like he wanted to say something, but finally just sighed. "Fine."

"Thank you Uncle Epps!" she grinned, grabbing Leon's arm and dragging the other woman off. She did not like the feeling of all the paint seeping into places that paint should not be seeping to.

-;-

It was a long while before anyone heard anything from Ellie's room, from which the two women had brought buckets of warm, soapy water into, and Fig just so happened to be walking by said room when he heard some rather...odd sounds.

_"HARDER!" _

_"I'M TRYING! STOP MOVING!" _

_"WELL IT HURTS! WHO WOULDN'T MOVE!?"_

_"YOU'RE SUCH A BABY!"_

There then came a few choked gasps, and the Spanish man couldn't help but flush red. He could only imagine what the two women were doing, but as he listened, his thoughts continued taking a turn for the worse.

_"Ohhhh...right there..." _came a breathy moan from who he assumed was Leon.

_"You like that, do you?" _Ellie replied breathlessly, sounding vaguely amused.

_"Oh yeah..."_

At this point, Bumblebee drove by, and as he heard the last part of the conversation, pulled closer, nudging Fig out of the way. His curiosity had always gotten the better of him, and now was no different. But as they listened to the rather sexual sounds coming from behind the door, their minds just couldn't take it. Bumblebee glitched, the sound of his processor shutting down loud in the empty hallway.

Fig had no time to dart away from the door, and it swung open, causing him to topple into the room.

"Fig...what are you doing?" Ellie asked, crossing her arms over her- clothed chest?

Sure enough, the mocha skinned woman was clothed in a black turtleneck and jean shorts, with the now signature army boots loosely on her feet. Leon was hanging off the edge of the bed, her face flushed from hanging upside-down. She waved lazily before flinching. "Ellie, I told you, the paint thinner works just fine!"

"And I told you that even if it works, it's not necessarily good for you! Just shut up and hold still so I can get the rest of the paint off your back."

Fig looked confused. "What do you mean, get the rest of the paint off her back?" he asked.

Ellie looked at him with a raised brow. "I mean, I need to get the rest of the paint off of her back. Why? What did you think we were doing?"

Fig coughed, and Ellie facepalmed. "Leon and I aren't romantically involved, Fig."

"Anymore." Leon added helpfully. "Not since college."

"Shut it, Leon." Ellie growled before glaring at Fig. "Now, I suggest you get out."

Pointing out the door, it was only then that she noticed Bumblebee. "What did you do to Bee, you monster!" she screeched.

"Well..."

That was all he managed to get out before the mocha skinned woman was upon him, her eyes gleaming with rage.

Leon watched with mild interest as her best friend pounded the living daylights out of Fig before sighing and grabbing the rag and beginning to scrub at the remaining paint.

"Honestly. If you want anything done, you've got to do it yourself." she huffed.


	16. Unexpected Encounters

_Mistakes are the portals of discovery_

_-James Joyce_

-;-

"Bye Leon! Have a nice flight!" Ellie waved cheerfully as her best friend reluctantly boarded the large cargo plane. It was probably a good thing that she had taken medication for the anxiety that was sure to set in within the first twenty minutes of being in the plane. Otherwise, the mocha skinned woman had a feeling that Leon would do something very stupid that would no doubt result in the plane crashlanding in the middle of the ocean. It was a ridiculous thought, yes, but one that she wouldn't put past Leon. The woman had a one track mind when it came down to it.

"No promises!" came the snarky reply.

Ellie crossed her arms with a fond smile, the last minute additions of people and supplies still moving around her. It was as if she were in an ant hill, and she were the only one not moving. As various personel waved and yelled to one another, the back of the plane closing up, Ellie couldn't help the lump in her throat from forming. She watched as everyone seemingly disappeared into thin air, watched the plane as it revved up and slowly made its way down the runway. Any and all smiles had faded by the time the wheels left the ground in the distance, but Ellie continued to stand out on the tarmac alone as she watched the bulky aircraft fade into the sky.

She was alone again. Her ties to America, to home, had once again been taken away, and she was seemingly all alone on Diego Garcia again.

"Well, this sucks." she finally sighed, dragging her hair up into a messy bun. "I think the SRT is still out on that mission, and Bumblebee's not here right now..."

Ellie didn't know what to do. Boredom was one thing that could quickly become a problem for the rest of the base if left unchecked, and this was definitely not one of the times that the base would want a bored Ellie running rampant. But there weren't really any people that she wanted to talk to around, considering that she still hadn't interacted much with most of the soldiers on base.

Speaking of which, where were all of the other women on the base? The question had certainly been nagging at the back of her mind for the last couple of weeks, and she continued to forget about asking her uncle or Lennox about it.

And then after that, maybe she could go see the women, or even go see if she could attempt to get over her fear of the Autobots. But who would want to interact with her? Ironhide and Sideswipe had made it very clear that they had no love for the 'squishies' wandering around base, though there was some evidence that perhaps it wasn't as bad as they had made it out to be. Ironhide was actually Lennox's Guardian, and apparently even had a soft spot for Lennox's daughter. Sideswipe, when he wasn't 'terrorizing Ratchet', could be, according to the rumors, be found racing around the track with the other 'bots or training with the rookies.

Ugh. All of this thinking was beginning to give her a headache.

The fact that she hadn't moved from the tarmac and the sun probably wasn't helping either. It was rapidly growing warmer, a consequence of the coming summer months. Grumbling to herself, she stretched before turning and making her way back into the cooler, but still warm, base.

Seeking out Lennox was going to be her first priority, and then hunting down a bottle or two of water. And then...Autobots. As much as she hated to admit it, Ellie knew that although she got along great with Bee, the fact that she was still nervous around the other Autobots made it so that it was unlikely that she would make a good liaison. However, it only meant that she would have the opportunity to push herself to become the CMO of the human side of the base instead.

Wandering around, her head in the clouds, she very nearly missed even seeing Lennox as he was walking by, and it still took Ellie several seconds before she managed to clue in and turn around.

"Hey Lennox!" she called, jogging the couple of steps so that she could stand face to face with him, "I have a question I've been meaning to ask you."

Lennox greeted her before looking slightly baffled. "Uh, sure. Shoot."

"Where are the women?" Ellie inquired. "I mean, the only two I've seen have been with the SRT. Everyone else seems to be gone."

"Ah."

Ellie raised a brow. "Is that supposed to be a place or something? Because I think I can say that I've never heard of it."

Chuckling, the soldier held up his hands. "No, nothing like that. The women are all out on missions right now."

"All of them? I find that a little hard to believe." she crossed her arms, shifting her weight to one hip.

Lennox seemed to brace himself for a moment before he explained further. "What I mean is, all of the women on base are out on missions because the women on base are pretty much all composed of translators and 'spies', I guess you could call them. Their job is to go and be temporary liaisons and translators in order to gather intel on whether or not any of the secrets have been leaked to the public."

"Oh." Ellie blinked. That..actually made quite a bit of sense, now that she thought about it. From the movies she'd watched over the years, it always seemed to be the women that made the best spies and liaisons. Probably had something to do with the suits and heels, but she couldn't be certain. "Okay. Thanks, Lennox."

"Will."

"Eh?"

"Call me Will." he waved her off. "You don't need to call me by my last name as long as we're not on duty."

"Oh. Are you sure?" there were her manners, always kicking in at the weirdest moments. "I mean, if it's not too inconvenient for you or anything.."

"Don't worry about it, Elina."

"Okay. But only if you call me Ellie. Elina makes me feel like some little old woman in a cottage in the Bahamas making tacos. Just saying."

The two shared a laugh before Lennox- _Will_, agreed to the conditions.

"Thanks, Will. I'll probably see you at dinner." Ellie smiled before continuing on her previous route, which had been taking her in the general direction of the training hangar.

-;-

As she'd suspected, the usual sounds of cannons and gunfire rang out, and Ellie mentally tried to steel herself against the sight she was probably going to see.

However, it turned out that it was far different than she thought.

Ironhide and Sideswipe were fighting.

Sideswipe's huge blades blocked against a blast from Ironhide's cannons, a grin on his faceplates as he laughed and lunged, aiming for what appeared to be a flag of some sort on the mech's hip.

Ironhide barely managed to escape the obvious bait, and a moment later, Sideswipe was victorious as his other servo swooped in and snatched the flag.

"Ha! I win again!" the silver mech stated smugly. "You're getting too old for this, 'Hide."

"Just remember who has the cannons, Youngling." Ironhide snapped back, though Ellie couldn't detect any malice in the tone. "I can still send you to Ratchet for some rather uncomfortable repairs."

"You're implying that you're fast enough to catch me." Sideswipe laughed lightly, dancing just out of reach as the black mech swiped half-heartedly at him. "You want to try another round, or do you admit defeat?"

"Never." Ironhide barked out a laugh, taking back the offered flag and attaching it to his hip again.

Okay, they weren't fighting. They were sparring. This thought was much easier to comprehend than the former. If they were actually fighting, she probably would have run for the hills, metaphorically. Actually, she probably would have made a break for the beach and then from there, land. After all, she wasn't suicidal. Ellie was definitely smart enough to know when something could kill her. Especially if said something could do it with no effort and with a finger.

She slowly moved to sit against the wall, taking great care to note which areas would be safe for her to run to if the mechs got a little too close for comfort. After all, she really didn't feel like getting squished into a pancake. A bloody, human pancake. Maybe that was why they were referred to as 'squishies'...

The first shot of Ironhide's cannons caught her attention, and Ellie turned her full attention back to the matter at hand instead of pondering why the humans were called 'squishies'.

Both of the mechs had grace. It was breathtaking to watch. Sideswipe was nimble, agile, able to leap over Ironhide before using his blades (the dull edge) to batter at the other mech's cannons. His wheeled pedes only made it more difficult for Ironhide to get a grip on the more slender mech, and he avoided any dangerous blows by doing so. But that didn't mean that Ironhide was to be counted out. No, Ellie could see that although Ironhide was not as small as Sideswipe was, he was still bulkier, which made Sideswipe's blows nearly ineffectual. Adding that to his long range weapons and the mocha skinned woman could tell that he was not one to be messed with. But considering the welcome she had recieved from the large Weapons Specialist, she already knew that.

The closest she could compare them to would have to be a panther and a cheetah. Ironhide was the panther, obviously. Swift, merciless, silent, while Sideswipe would have to be a cheetah. Fast as hell, wearing his enemy down to the ground before going in for the final blow. They were well matched in their abilities, and from what she could tell, this was something that they practiced often.

Ellie knew from experience that the only way that two people could be so in sync would be if they had either practiced together with them often, or knew them well enough to predict and know most of what the other would do.

Ironhide rose to become the champion of the round, to which Sideswipe muttered an offhand comment about 'old mechs and cannons'. Ironhide, obviously, took it as a usual occurance, shooting casually at Sideswipe as he chuckled.

Seeing the mechs like this, other than what she had seen so far, was different. It gave her a glimpse into their lives, their culture. Sure, Ellie knew that they were much like humans. They felt emotions, thought, could feel pain and inflict it. Seeing this, a mundane sparring match, only made it official in her eyes.

She shifted, which suddenly alerted the mechs to her position, and within seconds, she was at the mercy of two very dreaded cannons and a pair of wicked looking blades. Ironhide looked tense for a moment before he recognized her and relaxed, venting quietly as Sideswipe did the same.

"I'm sorry if I startled you." Ellie apologized sheepishly, getting up and stretching. "I didn't want to disturb you from your spar."

"You knew we weren't actually fighting?" Sideswipe asked hestitantly, his tone suggesting sarcasm.

She looked at him knowingly, a small smile pulling at her lips. "Well, I can't say about when I first arrived, but yeah. I figured it out."

"You'll be the first, then." Ironhide snorted, his cannons suddenly shifting and clicking as they disappeared back into his forearms. Ellie watched with rapt curiosity. Subspacing was something that she had yet to understand, considering that Bee couldn't actually tell her exactly what it was.

Sideswipe's blades had also disappeared, and she couldn't help but sigh in bliss. "That is so fucking cool." she admitted at the two mechs odd glances. "I mean, Bee's tried to explain it and everything, but..." she shrugged.

"What. You mean subspace?" Sideswipe queried.

"Yeah." she nodded. "I get the bare basics. Is it like a dimension inside of you or something?"

Ironhide and Sideswipe shared a look for a moment before Ironhide reluctantly kneeled. "Actually, you are not far off from your guess. Subspace is essentially a small dimension that Cybertronians can access at will."

"So your cannons..and Sideswipe's blades?" Ellie nodded towards their wrists.

"Yes." it was Sideswipe who replied, and a second later the familiar blades had reformed. Ellie again watched like a hawk, her curiosity rearing its ugly head.

"Wow." she breathed, admiring the smooth metal of the blades. "Would it be possible for me to touch them?"

"I would prefer not." Sideswipe replied in a much more cool tone.

Ellie held her hands up in defense. "Alright. I get it. Not touching the blades." she confirmed. "Don't worry. I won't ask again."

"You are a very strange femme." Ironhide hummed, tilting his helm to one side ever so slightly. "Former data says that you should be well on your way to having a 'panic attack', and yet you have instead shown signs of a calm state. What has changed?"

"Well, the fact that I'm almost sure that you won't blow me to bits with your cannons, but mostly because I'm trying to get over my fear of you guys." she offered tentatively. "Something like that, anyway. Well, that and the fact that there's really no one else on base right now that I know."

"So you decide to spend your time watching mechs spar? You are truly, very strange."

"Thank you." she smiled calmly before laughing quietly. "Trust me, there are definitely stranger things that have happened to me. Although alien sentient beings is definitely a new one."

"Ha!" Ironhide barked out another laugh. "I believe that you and I shall get along well, femme."

"Please, call me Ellie. Elina if you really need to. If I'm going to be working with you guys in the future, I'd like us to be on a name basis, if you are accepting towards something like that."

"I myself think that this could work." Sideswipe shrugged before holding out a finger for her to take. "It is a pleasure to meet you officially, femme Elina."

"It's nice to meet you too, Sideswipe." Ellie grinned, grabbing gently onto the smooth metal, the gentle warmth soothing for the moment she held on. She didn't want to make the more sensitive mech uncomfortable by having an organic touching him longer than was necessary.

Ironhide did the same, and Ellie repeated the process, again not wanting to make the mech uncomfortable.

"You and Ratchet will be a formidable pair." Ironhide grunted finally, straightening. "It is easy to see the curiosity in your optics."

"It is nice to hear you think so." Ellie nodded. "Thank you. I should probably get going. I'd like to go run around the track before I grab some lunch."

Both mechs said quick good-byes, to which Ellie returned before continuing on her way, leaving them to get back to their sparring matches.

They really weren't all that bad. They were polite, at least, and it had been her fault that she startled them, so she couldn't hold anything against them. All in all, she saw her interactions as a small success for herself. She hadn't run screaming from the room. Rather, she had held a rather intelligent conversation with them, however brief.

Yes, today was shaping up to be rather pleasant in the end.

-;-

Double checking to make sure that there was a cooler nearby, Ellie finished doing her stretches and looked out over the deserted sands. The track was covered in a thin layer of dust from the wind, but she wasn't about to let that keep her from doing her run.

She started off, her ankles protesting lightly for a moment until she settled into her rythmn, her mind switching into the blank one that just let her focus on the pounding of her heart and the beat of her feet against the track.

The sun had her beginning to sweat after barely the halfway mark, and she knew that it was only going to get worse now that it was later in the day. All she needed would be a good shower and water once she was done, and then she would be set for anything. Hopefully, anyway.

Ellie was unaware of the company she had gotten until Bumblebee cruised up next to her, causing her to jolt and almost fall over in shock. Slowing, she snickered, panting lightly.

"Hey Bee." she greeted, patting his hood before the passenger side door popped open invitingly.

_"Need a lift?" _

"I would love one, thank you." she sighed, clambering into the Camaro eagerly. "Can you take me to the mess hall?"

_"Will do." _

"Mhm." she hummed, inhaling the cold air that was powering out the vents. "You know, I talked to Ironhide and Sideswipe today. They're not as bad as everyone makes them out to be."

Bumblebee chirped something that sounded like an agreement as they made their way through the base.

"Although I did scare them and almost lost my important bits." she added as an afterthought.

The sudden brakes and screech of panic was _so _worth the mild whiplash she recieved seconds later.

"Just kidding, Bee!"

"Bee?"


	17. Rising Action

_Facing it, always facing it. That's the way to get through._

_-Joseph Conrad _

-;-

"Good morning, Bee."

The yellow 'bot chirped brightly in reply, automatically kneeling to offer the woman a servo.

Laughing, Ellie clambered on before finishing pulling back her unruly mane of hair. She couldn't help but laugh around Bumblebee. He was just so damn cute, not to mention he had a wicked sense of humor.

Ellie relaxed against the warm palm beneath her, adjusting her tank top as she did so. Her boots were, as always, loosely hanging off of her feet, the laces barely tucked in over a pair of yellow socks. Once again, she found herself wearing a pair of jean shorts, and she idly wondered when she would get used to the climate enough that she would actually be able to wear pants.

_"Where to?" _Bee's radio fuzzed as his steady steps took the pair further down the hall. She thought for a moment before looking up to Bee.

"To see Ratchet, please."

She could have sworn that Bumblebee almost stumbled. Giving her an incredulous look, he reverted to clicks and whirs that sounded distinctly amazed. Rolling her eyes, Ellie pulled herself to her feet using Bee's thumb and placed her hands on her hips.

"Bee, you seem to forget that I'm a Medical Officer, and as such, I do need to get to know the Autobots. That includes Ratchet." she scolded. "Now, if you're quite done being a baby, you can put me down at any time. I know how to get there on my own."

Bumblebee made an sound of objection, but didn't put her down. Rather, he straightened his shoulders and continued on, though she could tell that he was rather reluctant about the situation.

She smiled, thinking that the younger Autobot was like a younger sibling. He was always trying to prove that he was a big kid, trying to make himself as useful as possible all the time..it was sweet. Although, Bee would probably be more like the bigger, older younger brother...

-;-

The short distance to the Med Bay was covered quickly, and soon enough, Bee let the mocha skinned woman down at her destination.

She turned, smiling gratefully at the yellow 'bot, before waving and heading into the Med Bay.

It was neat and tidy, well laid out, even though all of the equipment was at least three times her height. Everything had a place, and everything seemed to be in order...other than the mech laying on one of the beds. Or was it berths? Ellie could never tell the difference.

Curiously, she clambered up the side of the berth, somehow knowing that she probably wasn't supposed to be doing this but not particularly caring. She wanted to get a closer look at the motionless form laying against the berth.

It wasn't anyone that she recognized, but that didn't seem to matter as she examined the prone form closer.

The 'bot was smaller than the other Autobots she'd seen, and by the looks of it the mech was even shorter than Bee. His armor was a gleaming silver under a thin layer of dirt and grime, and Ellie couldn't help but feel that this mech, this Autobot...he was dead. It was something that she could tell instinctively. There was no life under her careful hands as she wiped away the grime, unable to help but feel that he deserved better than this. Looking around for something other than her hands to clean off the mech, she didn't even notice the green armored mech enter the room.

-;-

The last thing Ratchet expected to see when he walked through the doors of his Med Bay was a human. Let alone a human cleaning off the remains of Jazz's body.

It was definitely unexpected. After all, there had been several people who had come in and looked at the mech who had once been his comrade, but none had ever done something like this. And he hadn't simply because there was no time. Between Ironhide and Sideswipe beating each other to bits in their sparring matches and various missions, the Medic just hadn't found the time to finish repairing and cleaning him. But this femme, an organic no less, was doing such. He didn't recognize her at first, partially due to the fact that she was facing away from him at the moment, but as she shifted he caught a glimpse of her face.

It was Epp's niece.

Ratchet knew quite well that she had not been in Mission City when the Second in Command had been offlined, so it baffled him that she would be cleaning him. Did she even realize that he wasn't functioning?

"What do you think you're doing?"

-;-

"What do you think you're doing?"

Ellie jumped, nearly sending herself flying off of the berth and tumbling to the floor below. Sheepishly, she tried not to cringe as Ratchet came closer, fighting off the paranoia that was nudging at the back of her mind.

"I was just-" she started, offering up the cloth she had been using to clean off the mech with as an explanation.

"You realize that he is offlined?"

Ellie was curious at the amount of curiosity she heard in the tone, and she tilted her head to one side before shrugging.

"Yeah. But even so, he shouldn't be so dirty." she replied, feeling emotions surface as she recalled memories that she did not want resurfacing at the moment. "I can't explain it...it just doesn't seem right for him to be like this."

"Hn." Ratchet replied thoughtfully, his optics examining her closely before he turned and made his way over to the large office looking space in the large corner. "His designation is Jazz."

"_Jazz_." Ellie repeated softly, glancing at the mech in question. "It suits him."

"That it does." Ratchet replied, grabbing a data-pad and beginning to scroll through some sort of document on the screen. Ellie took this as a signal for her to continue, and that was exactly what she did. Gently, she smoothed away all of the dirt from his frame, leaving it gleaming despite the ugly looking lines that criss-crossed against the torso of the body.

It was silent for the next several minutes as the woman continued her self appointed task, while Ratchet kept a watchful eye on her as he glazed over the documents on the data-pad.

This femme was odd. She had never been in the Med Bay, never even met him or Jazz face to face up until this point, and yet, here she was, acting as though Jazz had been one of her comrades. As if she had known him in some past life. It was a rather ridiculous thought, he knew, but nonetheless, it was what the Medic saw as Ellie tenderly took care of Jazz's lifeless form.

"How did he die?" Ellie asked suddenly, softly.

Ratchet snapped his helm up, staring at the femme in shock. She had paused, and was currently kneeling on his chest and looking into his blank optics. But it was the way that she was looking at him that had him wondering. It was a look of sorrow, one that told of the pain of losing someone close to her. If that weren't enough, his sensitive scanners could practically have him tasting the grief that was in the air.

"He died bravely in battle." Ratchet vented, placing the data-pad down on his desk before approaching the femme. "It was in Mission City. The Decepticons were pursuing the Allspark. Jazz, foolish as it was, took on Megatron on his own. The mech ripped him apart."

"Mission City?" Ellie breathed. She could remember this incident. It had been a couple of years ago now, but she could still remember it clear as day. To her, it was on the same scale as 9/11. The horrors of the people who had been caught in the destruction of the city graced the screens of televisions everywhere, their stories ringing in her ears as she could only listen. "That was a couple of years ago. Why is he still here?"

Ratchet vented again, placing a servo next to the berth for the femme to climb onto before lifting her to optic level.

"Even though time has passed, it has been difficult letting go of a comrade." he admitted. "True, there have been others, a great many lost in this war, but Jazz was a mech that affected us all."

He could feel his grief at failing to revive the mech, the others that he had tried so desperately to save in this blasted war, and he bowed his head.

"I'm sorry." Ellie said simply, placing her hand on Ratchet's faceplates. "I lost my mother to war."

Ratchet couldn't help but be baffled by this femme. She seemed to slowly be worming her way into all of the Autobots sparks, one by one, by her honesty and open thoughts.

"War has a way of impacting all." he replied, placing Ellie back on the berth. "It is unfortunate that we lose those close to our sparks."

"That it does." she agreed softly.

-;-

**:: Prime to Ratchet. ::**

**:: What is it, Prime? ::**

**:: Sideswipe has just reported signals of an Autobot. Landfall is estimated in thirty Earth hours. ::**

**:: Location? ::**

**:: Approximately twenty miles from our current location. ::**

**:: Very well. I will assemble a team to accompany us to retrieve the Autobot arrival. ::**

**:: Affirmative. Prime out. ::**

-;-

Ellie was highly confused as to what was going on.

One second she was eating her lunch, and the next, she was being dragged off to God knows where by her uncle. And she was not amused with that particular situation, that was for sure. She hated not having access to her food, for one thing, and then there was the completely opposite topic of what was even going on.

All in all, Ellie was highly unamused, and Epps was the one her ire just so happened to be aimed towards.

Sucked to be him.

His screams were heard literally everywhere on base, and at hearing them, a group of rookies jumped up, only to be waved back by Lennox, who had a look of vague amusement on his face.

"Don't worry about it. It's just one of the women taking out some of her frustrations on someone. You'll get used to it."

Fig shuddered in his seat, though he couldn't help but feel grateful that it wasn't him on the recieving end of the mocha skinned woman's wrath. He never wanted to go througn that kind of abuse again. Hell, he didn't even know that she'd hit him until he realized he was on the floor.

Yes, it was a very good thing in his books that he was not on the recieving end of Elina Epps' wrath.


	18. New Arrivals and Unexpected Tasks

_When you reach the end of your rope, _

_tie a knot in it and hang on. _

_-Thomas Jefferson_

-;-

Ellie finished wrapping her uncle's head, taking great care to make sure that he wasn't about to go and pass out on the floor if she allowed him to stand on his own two feet. It wasn't exactly her fault that she had beaten the crap out of him...he just dragged her off without any warning or telling her where she was being taken. And if it was one thing that Ellie could not stand, it was not being told where she was going if someone started to pull her away from something.

Especially if that something happened to be the coffee that kept her sane and happy and away from pretty much anyone who could possibly trigger an attack.

The bed Epps was sitting on creaked as he shifted uncomfortably, his face creased into a rather comical expression of pain as Ellie took her time getting through each and every one of his injuries. He could have sworn, however, that she was taken the necessary steps in order to cause him as much pain as possible.

"How's Auntie Monica?"

The question caught him off guard. If there was one thing he expected Ellie to say, it hadn't been that. She just didn't seem like she was interested in hearing about Monica and the twins, but then again, he could be wrong.

"She's good. Got her hands full with Alexis and Chase, though."

"Right. The twins." Ellie hummed, her touches suddenly becoming much gentler as she mused. "They're turning...three this year, right?"

"Yep." Epps preened. He couldn't help it. It had to be something that came with being a father. "I'm going to see if I can take a break and go see them for their birthday."

"Dad's birthday is around the same time, isn't it?"

Mentally counting the days, Epps couldn't help but chuckle at the silent suggestion that came with Ellie's seemingly innocent question. "Yeah, looks like it is. If we could both get time off, maybe you could come see the twins, maybe drag that lazy brother of mine along with you."

"Dad is not lazy!" Ellie snorted indignantly, swatting Epps across the back of his head. "God forbid he ever hear you say that to his face."

The two shared a laugh, knowing that if the occasion ever came that Epps did happen to say that to 'his lazy brother's face', someone would have to have a video camera on hand. Because the former marine that was Liam Epps was far from lazy. He still made it a necessary trip to go to the gym three times a week, and held on to a strict military type schedule in his house at all times. Probably something that kept him sane all these years.

"He's turning forty this year." Ellie mused. "I'll probably have to start advising him to get the Depends while he's at the grocery store."

Epps snorted. "Yeah. I can see that one happening. Right over his dead body."

Again, the two settled into comfortable laughter, neither really meaning the light teasing that they spoke in the Med Bay.

-;-

Bumblebee zipped through the halls, his processor nearly overloading at the transmission he'd just recieved from Optimus.

Another Autobot was entering the atmosphere! And it was headed straight for the island.

He bounced excitedly on his wheels as he skidded around a corner, clicking an apology to Lennox as the poor man nearly dove for cover.

He wanted Ellie to see a Cybertronian landfall. The mocha skinned woman had shown such an interest in Cybertronian culture, and here was the perfect opportunity, practically staring her in the face! All he had to do was get her into his alt-mode and they would be off to see the newest arrival to Earth.

The problem was...Ellie was magically MIA. Again.

He'd checked almost everywhere! Her room, the mess hall, even on the obstacle course! But the woman was nowhere to be found.

And then it dawned on the youngest 'bot.

She was in the Med Bay. Where else could she be? She'd probably gone and taken out her anger on some poor rookie who had had the misfortune of getting between her and the human drink, 'coffee'. Despite all of his best efforts to understand the concept of the drink, Bumblebee had finally just given up. There were some things in this organic world that Cybertronians just weren't supposed to understand, and coffee was one of them.

Didn't mean that they wouldn't try...it just meant that they wouldn't succeed.

Finally, after almost taking out his mirrors on another corner, he screeched to a halt outside the Med Bay and honked eagerly, waiting for the mocha skinned woman to poke her head out.

Bee didn't even have to wait.

After several moments, the woman he had been looking for came out of the Med Bay, her uncle standing next to her. Epps waved at Bumblebee before trotting off, leaving Ellie looking slightly amused for a moment before she tapped his hood.

"What's got you all excited, Bee?" she asked.

"_We are family! Let the sky fall, when it crumbles. We will stand tall, and face it all together."_

"Judging by your excitement I'm going to guess that there's another Autobot coming to Earth?" Ellie blinked, trying to take in everything at once. Bumblebee bounced on his wheels again, the drivers side door swinging open and nearly quivering off of its hinges.

"Okay, okay, I'm getting in. Hold on, will you?" the mocha skinned woman snickered, clambering in and nearly having her foot taken off as Bee slammed the door and revved his engine before taking off down the hall, leaving her to scramble to get her seatbelt on in time.

-;-

The sky was blue. Clear, save for the firey comet that streaked through the crystal color and set a course straight for them.

Yeah, Ellie could do without the straight at them part.

By them, it meant all of the Autobots and Lennox, who was sitting on Ironhide's shoulder. Ellie, on the other hand, had been carefully placed on top of Bee's helm, so that he could provide the optimum view. It wasn't all that bad, except that the 'bot was quivering with anticipation.

"Get ready." Ratchet murmured to himself, his trusty wrench in servo in case it was needed. Though why he was holding it so threateningly was a mystery...wouldn't it make more sense to fix the new arrival rather than club their helm in?

Then again, knowing Ratchet, it was definitely a possibility.

The Autobots slowly began backing up as the comet flew closer, gaining speed quickly. Bumblebee tipped Ellie into his palm so as to retreat more quickly, almost tripping backwards in his haste.

And then, there was the impact.

Even though they were stationed a good few miles away from the crash site, debris still went flying with all the force of a brick slamming into their faces. Well, Ellie's and Will's, anyway. The Autobots looked pretty unaffected by all of the dust and other various crap that was sailing through the air. _So not fair. _

After they were all certain that it was safe, Bumblebee deposited Ellie into the groove between his shoulder and his neck joints, the metal a rather comfortable perch, before settling into a quick pace after the other Autobots.

Ratchet was already prying apart the exterior of a giant circular looking pod, using his trusty tools to get through the metal quickly. From what Ellie had heard from snippets of conversation, the landfall for a Cybertronian was definitely risky, especially if the Cybertronian was already injured. Plus, there was always the chance that they would be trapped inside from the superheating that the pod went through as it hit the atmosphere. Now, how the mocha skinned woman had picked up that information and avoided detection was definitely something that should be admired. Even though she was small, the Autobots still had their scanners and freakishly good hearing and sense of smell. It had not been easy to snatch that information without being caught, but she'd managed.

Hey, it wasn't her fault her curiosity tended to make her do stupid things.

"Primus, why. Won't. This. Slagging. Thing. Open!" Ratchet grunted, heaving on a piece of metal that he'd managed to partially saw off.

Ironhide snorted, but shifted Lennox so that he could reach over and help the Medic with his task.

Needless to say, Ironhide got the job done.

With a horrendous shriek, the metal gave under the combined pressure of the two mechs, revealing part of something that looked suspiciously like another 'bot. But given her view, Ellie couldn't be sure.

Growling out curses, Ratchet examined the situation that the Autobot within the pod seemed to be experiencing before sending her a calculating glance. She couldn't help the shiver that rose the hair on the back of her neck. That look spelled nothing but trouble.

"Elina, might I borrow your medical skills for a moment?" he asked, bringing every other 'bots attention to the now cringing woman. She really didn't like being under such scrutiny. But, judging by the way that the concern laced its way through his tone, she supposed that she could just suck it up and get over her fears this one time.

"Sure, Ratchet." she nodded, beginning to climb out of the groove and onto Bumblebee's offered servo before she was carefully deposited into Ratchet's servo. The Medic showed her the metal that showed through the gap that they had made before placing her on the edge of the rather large hole.

"It is much appreciated." Optimus stated from behind her.

Ellie nodded, her attention focused on the bent metal that was just feet away from her hands. Her mind automatically switched from her usual thinking into her medical mode, thoughts flying through her mind.

"Elina, I am afraid that I must ask you to do something that is dangerous. I can't remove the rest of the pod without Prowl online, and it looks as though his systems have shut down. I need you to climb into his helm and possibly trigger his protocols."

"In other words, you want me to climb into his head and hit the 'on' button?" Ellie clarified.

Ratchet nodded. "I understand if you do not wish to, but it would be much easier if another Medical Officer were to do this rather than someone else. No offences meant, William."

"None taken." Lennox waved off the comment.

"Well, no day like today to get over a fear of the dark." she muttered to herself with a shudder before turning and jumping into the pod, ignoring the surprised shouts that came from Bumblebee and Lennox. Though she did hear something of a snort from Ironhide and Sideswipe...

Colliding with the ground, or what she assumed was the ground, hurt like a bitch to say the least. Her legs crumpled under her, her hands blindly seeking out anything to help balance her out, and instead hit something sharp. Pain blossomed in her palm, followed by the familiar sensation of blood. Great. Just great.

"Alright, Ratchet! I think I've hit the bottom! Any idea which direction I'm going?" she called out, feeling around, ignoring her palm for a moment.

"Up."

"Alright..." she grumbled, carefully feeling her way up what began feeling like a curled leg. "Somehow find my way back up the giant robot that I can't see and fix his head. Sounds like a fucking _brilliant _idea."

-;-

Ironhide was really beginning to like this femme. She was different. She was much more open minded than some of the other soldiers on base, and barely batted an eyelash with helping out Ratchet, of all mechs. Though she was a Medical Officer, the news of her small kindness to Jazz's frame had quickly spread among the other Autobots.

And she was amusing. Her reactions to the smallest things amused him. Since she had first seen he and Sideswipe sparring a few days prior, she had somehow gotten it in her mind that she would come and watch their matches for the afternoons from now on. Claimed that it was similar to a human way of fighting. Of course, that didn't really mean much, but he and Sideswipe both agreed that it was worth watching the femme's eyes light up as they sparred.

Shuttering his optics, he listened to Ratchet as he said something to Elina, who had leapt into the pod with no hesitation. Again, odd, considering that Robert Epps had said quite clearly that Elina was terrified of the dark. Though at the time, Ironhide could recall that it was being said as a threat to anyone who wanted to pull a prank on her.

"So, the new Autobot is Prowl." Sideswipe snickered, his optics getting a rather nasty gleam to them.

"So help me Primus, if you send him to the Med Bay because you triggered his glitch..." Ratchet warned, whirling to face the frontliner warningly. "You will be wishing that I _had _reformatted you into a toaster oven."

"Whatever you say, Hatchet."

A moment later, one of Ratchet's famous wrenches connectecd with Sideswipe's helm, knocking the mech onto his aft rather ungracefully with a curse.

-;-

Ellie didn't know how long it had been that she had been climbing around in the dark, but she was sure that she was bruised, dirty, and probably more than a little bloody from scraping her knees and elbows on various sharp objects that she couldn't see in the darkness. More than once, she had had to stop to swallow back the panic that she was feeling from the claustraphobic feeling that she began to feel, focusing on her mission instead. Then she could panic all she liked. Not like there was much anyone else could do about it anyway.

"Elina, what is your position?" Ratchet's voice sounded farther away than it had the last time he asked, and she vaguely wondered if she was even going in the right direction before sighing.

"I think I'm getting closer. It feels like he's curled on his side or something." she called.

"Alert me to when you find his helm." came the calm reply. Well, maybe not so calm as worried but trying to keep it in check. It really didn't boost Ellie's confidence in the least, however. It just made her feel like there was some sort of impending doom looming over her head while she climbed blindly in the dark.

Sighing tiredly, she climbed on.

-;-

"I wonder where Ellie and Bumblebee went off to in such a hurry?" Epps mused to himself, propping his chin on his hand as he sat with Fig and several other men in the mess hall. "And Will's gone too."

"You didn't hear? Another Autobot crashed somewhere on the island." a passing soldier shrugged. "Apparently they all upped and left. Took the Major and Ms. Epps with them."

"Why does no one tell me these things?" Epps complained, banging his freshly bandaged forehead against the metal table before yelping in pain.

"They do. You just have a bad habit of tuning them out." Fig nodded wisely, patting Epps' back before getting up and making his way over to the coffee. Ellie was beginning to rub off on the Spanish speaking male, and everyone was grateful that Fig was actually making an attempt to speak in English _only _these days. It was considered a miracle by some of the soldiers who knew Fig personally, to others just a blessing.

Either way, Epps was just a little suspicious of Fig's intentions towards his niece.

-;-

Finally, Ellie felt the groove between shoulder and neck, and she resisted the urge to cry with relief.

"I'm at his helm. What now?"

"Hold on while we pinpoint your location."

Pinpoint her location? What the hell did that mean?

A moment later, a screech echoed through the space before a small bit of light illuminated her. Squinting, she held up a hand to block it, unused to it after what seemed like forever in the dark. Luckily, it wasn't directly overhead, more so behind her, and it was just enough so that she would be able to see what she was doing.

"Do you see the panel at the back of the helm?" Ratchet asked.

Ellie shifted, finding where the panel was easily enough. It was the fact that it was several times larger than her that she found an issue. "Yeah...?"

"Reach under the ridge near the bottom and feel for two wires. They'll be disconnected, most likely. You need to reconnect them."

"Okay.." she replied, uncertain. However, she reached under the panel the best she could, ignoring the sharp pain that flared up as a piece of metal dig deeply into her skin.

Just when she thought her arms were going to fall off from how far they were wedged under the panel, she finally found something that felt suspiciously like two frayed wires. Taking a deep breath, she prayed that they were the ones she was looking for before she brought them together.

The frame below her jolted as if it had been electrocuted, dislodging Ellie painfully from her position and hanging precariously from her arms along as she struggled to free herself.

"Elina, are you alright?"

"Define alright." she grit back, managing to free one arm, leaving the other to take the full weight of her body. Not only that, but the mech below her was stirring, optics flickering blue in the dark.

"Are you intact?"

"Intact? Yes. In danger? Also yes."

"Frag."

"You know, you're really going to have to explain what all of those words mean to me sometime." she said thoughtfully before whining as her arm was jarred. However, the jarring did the trick, freeing her from her temporary prison.

Unfortunately, the mech beneath her was trapped too, and was also coming online. On an alien planet, no less.

"Shit."

-;-

"You know, when he said dangerous, I didn't think he would mean it." Lennox commented from Ironhide's shoulder. "Sure, he's in dangerous situations all the time, being a Medic, but still."

Ironhide shrugged. "No one really knows what goes through his processor, and that's the way most of us like it." he replied.

"Frag." Ratchet cursed as the pod began shaking.

"What? Prowl's coming onli- oh." Sideswipe shuttered his optics. "Prowl's coming online and Elina's in there with him."

"_Now's the time, get in line, don't be afraid tonight-" _Bumblebee piped up, moving over to stand by Ratchet. He was worried about Ellie- after all, she was much like a secondary charge to him while on base, and therefore she was his responsibility.

"Bumblebee, if you get the chance, see if you can grab Elina and get her out of there." Ratchet told the younger 'bot, keeping an eye on the now shifting form. Bumblebee could hear Ellie's indignant yelps of pain as she tried to stay clear of the much larger being that she was currently sharing the space with.

Bee saw his chance, and his servo darted into the pod, gently scooping up the struggling femme and quickly retracting said servo before examining the mocha skinned woman.

She was bruised and battered, her arms bleeding from the elbow to the wrist, while one palm was bleeding heavily, but other than that she seemed more spooked than anything else. It was a for sure 'not doing ever again' that was going to be going on a list back in her room, that was for sure.

Meanwhile, Ratchet had reverted to speaking Cybertronian, to which Ellie tuned out, feeling the effects of her injuries coming back to get her. Looking carefully at her shirt, she was suddenly grateful that she had worn a sports bra underneath, because her current shirt was about to become bandages.

Pulling it off, she swatted at Bee's other hand when he tried to gesture for her to put it back on. Damn it, she was bleeding! She needed to keep as much blood as possible from escaping her body, and the best way to do that was to bandage them. Therefore, her shirt was about to become scrap.

Luckily, it was one of her exercise shirts, a baggy white one that she didn't particularly care for, so it wasn't that great a loss to her inventory.

Using her teeth, she shredded the thin fabric before efficiently wrapping her forearms and palm before moving on to her knees. It was not a good day for wearing shorts, that was for sure. Maybe she would ask for the standard uniform...just to be safe.

At this point, the pod had become scrap, and the mech that had been trapped inside stepped out warily. Ellie barely spared him a glance, too focused on finishing bandaging herself up. At least until she heard the sound of metal collapsing to the ground, anyway. Head snapping up, she stared at the now motionless mech before looking at Ratchet for an explanation.

All the Medic did was vent heavily and move to revive the downed mech.

"Prowl has a glitch in his processor. Anything he thinks is illogical causes him to glitch." Ironhide supplied.

"And glitching is..."

"The equivalent to fainting." Optimus rumbled gently with something akin to amusement, though it was barely noticeable.

"Ah." Ellie blinked.

Poor mech. She could see how illogical this could be for him. After all, he wakes up, only to find pretty much all of the Autobots he knows standing around him, with a couple of organic life forms.

Yeah, she could see how this would make life on base comfortable.

All she needed now was a giant blob of jello to show up shouting something ridiculous and her day would be complete.


	19. Glitch

_People are always grumbling that roses have thorns; _

_I am thankful that thorns have roses. _

_-Alphonse Karr_

-;-

_Yeah, she could see how this would make life on base comfortable._

_All she needed now was a giant blob of jello to show up shouting something ridiculous and her day would be complete._

Ellie watched with some curiosity as the mech designated Prowl was quickly brought back online and to his pedes.

He was a slender mech, definitely more so than the other mechs. The closest he could be compared to was Sideswipe in terms of their slender frames, but Prowl was taller by several feet. He was also less bulky, looking as though he would have a smaller alt-mode rather than a car. Maybe a motorcycle?

Her thoughts were turned away from Prowl to herself as she shifted, remembering that she was still injured. Glancing down at her arms, she winced, which in turn caught Bumblebee's attention.

The larger 'bot chirped something down at her that she noted to be filled with concern, which brought all of the Autobots attentions to her. Bumblebee stared at Ratchet for several seconds before tilting his head to one side, but Ellie was having none of it.

Ignoring the odd looks she was recieving from Prowl and the others, she huffed and knocked on the yellow scout's thumb with her good hand. He looked down at the mocha skinned woman, to which she responded by crossing her arms.

"Bumblebee...put me down or take me back to base so I can get cleaned up. Please and thank you." she raised a brow.

"Are you sure? You're injured." Ratchet stated.

"I am also a Medical Officer. I think I'll be fine on my own." she snorted. "Besides, I'm hardly top priority. Prowl needs your help far more than I do."

"Bumblebee, would you mind?" Ellie asked again. "I'd rather not have to walk."

Bee whirred and clicked for a minute before venting heavily and placing the woman gently down on the sand. With a smooth movement, the 'bot transformed back down to his alt-mode, the passenger door swinging open invitingly.

"Ellie!" Lennox called down to her from Ironhide's shoulder, "This probably isn't really the most ideal time, but you're hired!"

That wrung a small laugh out of her. With a small wave, Ellie clambered into the Camaro, allowing Bee to seatbelt her in.

"To the showers, Bee. I need to get all of this dirt and blood off of me."

Bee chirped something back before his engine revved, and then they were off.

-;-

Now, there just so happened to be a pair of twins on base, along with a certain Chevrolet Volt, who weren't at the landfall of Prowl.

Jolt had just arrived back from a long term mission in Canada, one of which he was not particularly interested in partaking in again, and was beginning to reaquaint himself with the Med Bay.

Skidz and Mudflap, however...were up to no good.

This no good involving a certain Elina Epps. They had been pretty miffed about the whole paintball war, in which Ellie had not only insulted them, but jumped on their alt-modes. In their optics, this was a direct declaration of war. And were they ever ready to rise to the challenge.

But what to do?

It wasn't like they could do anything to actually harm the organic, considering that they were still under close watch from pretty much all of the humans and Autobots on base.

So what to do?

-;-

Ellie cringed as she peeled off her clothing: or rather, what was left of her clothing. With it came the makeshift bandages that she had wrapped around her knees, arms, and palm, and she examined them closely to make sure that there wasn't anything too life threatening in the gouges.

Her knees were mostly just bruised, though she knew that they were probably going to be the worst in terms of pain. Bruises anywhere that involved joints were pretty much an automatic 'Oh _fuck _that's going to hurt tomorrow' type of situation.

Her forearms were gouged pretty deeply, fortunately on that brink of needing stitches and wanting stitches, so she didn't pay them much mind. Other than that, her palm was stinging, and that was going to be Ellie's main concern at the moment. She'd been messing around with a whole bunch of alien technology, and she wanted to get it disinfected as soon as was humanly possible. Who knew what kind of infection she could get if it went untreated?

Cranking on the hot water, the mocha skinned woman double checked to make sure that any other injuries weren't excluded from her diagnosis.

Other than the main and more serious wounds, her body was going to be bruised basically from her ribs down. Her hip had been jarred by something, probably during that brief moment of panic when everything started moving, and was steadily changing colors before her eyes. She supposed she should have been grateful that she hadn't broken anything, but at the moment, all Ellie could think about was getting clean.

Gingerly stepping into the hot spray, she felt all of her muscles just _relax_. Her arms and palm stung, but that was to be expected, and she quickly found a medium in which she could tune out the stinging in favor of the warmth that was caressing her skin and washing away all of the filth she was coated in. Hell, now she understood why Leon ran out of bleach so quickly after doing laundry. Couldn't say she blamed her anymore, either. If that's what she felt like everyday when she came home from work, Ellie would probably be doing the same thing.

So deep in her musing, Ellie barely noticed the flash of green and red that crept in and back out of the womens showers, not realizing what they had done.

Yet, anyway.

-;-

Stepping out of the shower, Ellie stretched languidly, her back popping pleasantly as she looked around for her clothes- which were no longer lying on the bench she'd left them on.

Frowning, the mocha skinned woman went over to where the towels were usually kept, expression growing a little more neutral as she noted that the shelf too, was empty. This didn't bode well for whoever had done it, that was for sure.

Ellie wasn't all that shy about showing off what God gave her, but considering the last incident that had simply involved a catsuit...well, it was reasonable that she be just a little hesitant about taking the chance of walking back to her room. Which just so happened to be on the other side of the base.

"Well, this could get interesting..." she mused to herself, crossing her arms across her chest. "If Leon were here she'd probably tell me to go for it and then follow me around just to get a nice view...but considering she's not, I don't really have any motivation to do this. Then again, I _am _tired, and I _do _need medical attention, which I can get at my Med Bay, which is near enough to my room..."

Decisions, decisions.

Ellie stared at the door for several more minutes, debating if she really wanted to risk getting caught by her uncle. She wasn't all that modest, having been on a womens soccer team before. Holy shit, her team was the farthest thing from modest anyone could see. In the locker room, they compared the sizes of their boobs...without their bras on. Simply one of the many rather strange things that had happened to Ellie. Actually, she'd prefer walking buck naked across base than in the filthy clothes that she had been wearing.

"Here goes nothing." she shrugged, opening the door and casually stepping out into the hall. "I just hope I don't run into anyone _too _important..."

-;-

Now, whether Ellie knew it or not, she was being watched. But not by anyone she thought it could be.

No, Skidz and Mudflap were watching the femme as she shamelessly strutted across base like she owned the place. Then again, they couldn't really say that they didn't appreciate the view. After all, Ellie was a fairly attractive femme in their optics.

Skidz held the remains of Ellie's clothes in his servo, and he looked down at them vaguely before looking over at his twin.

**:: Yo bro..I don' think dat this femme really cares she no' wearin no clothes. :: **

**:: No shit, bro. :: **Mudflap retorted, shuttering his optics. **:: She weird, a'right. ::**

-;-

The unfortunate thing about these kinds of plans is, no matter how hard one tries, someone always manages to get wrangled up in these sorts of things. And in this case, it just so happened to be that poor Prowl was the victim of this crime.

Ellie had managed to get almost completely to her quarters with none of the soldiers catching sight of her, even though she was more or less strutting down the halls. But she had, by some twist of fate, managed to go down a hall that branched off in one direction. A direction that happened to lead to the Med Bay.

Ellie was busy muttering to herself as she walked by, startling the mech that had been approaching the main branch of the hall, newly updated language called 'English' downloaded in his processor. Prowl, at seeing the naked woman, took one long look at her before crumpling in a glitched heap, causing Ellie to jump.

At seeing the downed Autobot, she panicked.

Running over to the mech, she barely even thought of her state of undress, trying to get at the wires at the back of his helm so that she could try to bring him back online. Sadly, her arms were both too injured and too short to get to the panel that she needed, and she huffed in annoyance.

It just so happened that Ratchet had also heard the crash, and was making his way down the same hall, when he saw Ellie.

"Elina...what are you doing? Where are your clothes?" the Medic asked carefully, unsure if the femme had some sort of malfunction that he was unaware of.

"Ratchet!" Ellie sighed with relief. "Some moron took my clothes and the towels while I was showering, and I found no other way to get back to my room without going like this. And...I think I may have broken Prowl."

The bluntness of the statement, combined with the childish pout and folded arms, almost caused the CMO to chuckle. However, that would probably not be the best course of action at this point in time, instead settling for a shake of his helm.

"You may want to hurry. I believe I hear several soldiers coming this way."

"Oh! Right!" Ellie blinked before looking down at herself. "Yeah...this would be a little awkward to explain..."

As the voices grew closer, Ellie started off again, making quick time to get back to her own room and her clothes.

Venting heavily, Ratchet shifted Prowl so that he could get to the panels he needed to bring the ninja-bot back online. Honestly, this base deserved to be in one of those 'Looney Bins' he heard Lennox speak about so often. Not that he could blame them, of course. Considering the events that occurred on a daily basis, he would probably be recommending that they be placed in these 'Looney Bins' as well.

Now _there _was an idea...


	20. Whatever It Was, I Didn't Do It

_Our patience will achieve more than our force. _

_-Edmund Burke_

-;-

Ellie hesitantly approached the Med Bay a couple of days later, her palm held carefully out of the way of any further harm.

It had been steadily growing more swollen and painful, and when she'd woken up to see pus seeping out of the gash, she knew that it was time to brave Ratchet's Med Bay in order to get a second opinion. For all she knew, there was something that shouldn't be in any way, shape or form connected to humans that somehow was.

Grimacing again as her wrist was jarred, Ellie nearly whimpered as she entered the Med Bay. However, there was no sign of the familiar green Hummer that was usually present when she visited. No, there was a dark blue mech over in one corner, organizing something on a shelf. She could have sworn that she'd seen him before, too...

"Uh, hello?"

The mech jumped, and the all too amusing/terrifying action of a cannon being pointed her way occurred. Honestly, what was with all these mechs? She was tiny- how was she going to take anyone down, let alone a twenty-something-foot sentient alien robot?

"Really? That's starting to get really old." the mocha skinned woman rolled her eyes, barely batting an eye as the cannon was subspaced, the mech still looking a little wary. That done, Ellie smiled gently, as if she were trying to calm down a skittish animal rather than this mech. "I don't think we've met. My name's Ellie. Ellie Epps."

The mech was staring at her, quite openly, and after several moments Ellie grew concerned that she'd caused the poor guy to glitch. Would that work if they were standing? Prowl, the two times he'd glitched, had fallen, but this 'bot wasn't. Therefore...he was still online?

"Hello?" she asked cautiously, waving her uninjured hand back and forth. That seemed to do the trick: the mech shuttered his optics before nodding his helm at her.

"My designation is Jolt. Is there something I can assist you with?" the mech replied, looking a little hesitant about the whole situation. Ellie could understand the situation with all too much ease. She'd done the same thing with the Autobots. Kind of.

"Yeah...the other day, when the new 'bot landfalled, I had to climb into the pod thing to get him back online and I cut my palm. And now it's infected, and I wanted a second opinion from Ratchet to try and figure out if there's something in there that shouldn't be in there or if it's just a normal infection. But since he's not here..would you please take a look?" she asked politely, offering her palm out for the mech to take a closer look.

Jolt's optics got that gleam in them, the same kind that Leon got when she was presented with a difficult task or something that enabled her to tinker around with machinery. Apparently, Ellie got the same look in her eyes when she was reading her medical journals, but that was pure speculation at the moment, considering that Leon hadn't proved it yet.

"It would be unfortunate if you were to offline." Jolt finally vented, holding out a servo carefully for the mocha skinned woman to haul herself onto. "I will offer my personal opinion on what may be the problem."

"Thank you, Jolt." Ellie smiled as the Medic carried her over to a berth and set her gently onto its surface. "So, are you the other Medic, or are you an assistant or.."

"I am Ratchet's apprentice." the blue mech replied, a little vaguely. Ellie assumed that he was scanning her palm, because he looked at her more alertly several moments later.

"Ah. Well, in that case, it looks like I'll be getting to know you better in the near future too." she offered. "I'm the CMO on the human side of things."

"Really?" Jolt looked a little suprised by this statement, watching her with wider than usual optics. "I was unaware of this."

"It was really only made official after Prowl landfalled and I had to climb into the pod thing." Ellie waved him off before whining at the pain it brought. "But yeah. Apparently I'm qualified enough to be made CMO and live here on base. I should really ask about my circumstances, too. Because really, all of this just seemed a little too simple. It isn't that simple, right?"

Jolt shuttered his optics for a moment before venting, something that could be a smile tugging at his faceplates.

"You are much like Bluestreak, femme." he commented, backing away from Ellie and going over to the shelf he had previously been organizing. "He seemed to go on about topics mindlessly as well."

"Yeah, well...I got nothing for you." Ellie shrugged. "So, what's the verdict?"

Jolt shook his head in amusement as he approached the berth again, his servo carrying something that looked a lot like a large icecream bucket full of some kind of cream. Ellie suddenly had the urge to go hunt down some icecream, but pressed it down, instead paying attention to what the Medic was saying.

"This cream is specifically made by Ratchet and myself. It is designed for Cybertronians, but we have discovered that it works just as well on humans. Simply apply it to your wound."

Ellie did as she was told, rubbing the thick green cream into the pus coated wound and nearly purring in relief as the pain almost immediately disappeared. "Thank you, Jolt. That feels better already."

"That _is _it's design." Jolt replied with a quick bark of laughter. Right then, Ellie decided that she liked Jolt. He was friendly- well, friendlier than Ironhide, and was already proving that he had a sense of humor. A great must have on Ellie's list of awesome people. And robots, now that she thought about it. "However, I suggest keeping it bandaged until it scabs over, I believe the term is?"

"Yep." she chirped back, already clambering down the berth to the ground with startling ease. "Thanks a lot, Jolt."

"You are welcome." Jolt replied with some confusion, causing the mocha skinned woman to snicker as she exited the Med Bay.

Yep, she liked him already.

-;-

"Hey Elina!" Eliza waved from a table with the remainder of her SRT, looking healthy and not as pale as the last couple of times the mocha skinned woman had seen her. Marcus was sitting next to his Captain, and at seeing Ellie, snorted, turning back to the man next to him and continuing a conversation.

Oooohhh, what she wouldn't give to have a go at him...

However, at seeing the pixie-like Lex cheerily gesturing her over, Ellie couldn't help but smile. The blonde was the brightest of the group, no doubt their confidence boost whenever they were sent out on a mission: Ellie could see the possibilities of the petite woman's role in the group.

And there was Michael, and Bingo, too. Huh. Ellie didn't recall him being in the Med Bay when Eliza had been. Ah well, there was a lot that she didn't know about the SRT. Like what their missions were, for example. Hell, she didn't even know all of their names!

"Hey." she greeted, taking a seat next to Michael and another man with brown hair. "How's the leg?"

"Healed up nicely." Eliza groaned in relief. "Honestly. I thought Marcus would never leave me alone."

Said man sent her a half-hearted glare, but it faded under the teasing grin the woman sent back at him. Lex sniggered, leaning over the table to whisper loudly, "They're in _loooveee_."

Eliza rolled her eyes. "We are _not_, Lex."

"Oh, but you are."

"No, no we're not."

"Yes, you are."

"You know what, I don't even know why I'm having this argument with you right now."

"Because I get under your skin?" the blonde asked innocently, blue eyes gleaming devilishly.

"There's that."

Ellie snorted as the two continued to bicker, reclining back on the bench before stiffening. Epps was coming right at them, and the look on his face promised nothing good.

"Shit. Gotta go, nice seeing you, if I don't show up again tomorrow make sure my dad knows I lived a good life." Ellie said quickly, before making a break for it.

_"ELINA ROSA EPPS!" _

_"WHATEVER IT WAS, I DIDN'T DO IT!"_

-;-

Optimus was having a rather pleasant walk down the halls when he heard the first howls of rage echo down the halls. In slight confusion, the large mech tilted his helm, audials picking up some rather...interesting threats coming from one Robert Epps.

Moments later, the sound of footsteps came running towards the mech, and before he knew what was happening, Elina was crawling up his leg like her life depended on it. Considering the threats the Prime was hearing, it was definitely a possibility.

"Please help me." she pleaded, managing to cling to his chassis as she looked down the hall she just came from. "He's gonna _kill _me."

"Now, I am sure-"

_"ELINA! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU YOU'RE GOING TO WISH YOU WERE DEAD!" _

"I dare you to finish that statement." Ellie raised a brow before yelping as she was dumped into Optimus' palm. The next thing she knew, she was in a rather luxurious cab, the windows tinted darkly.

_"I do not know what you have done to anger your uncle, Elina-"_

"Trust me, Boss, I don't know what I did either." Ellie whispered back with wide eyes. "He hunted me down in the mess hall and the next thing I know, I'm running for my life."

_"...I must admit, I did not know that you could climb we Autobots so easily." _

"I'm blaming it on adrenaline, and that's all I've got in terms of survival." Ellie shrugged before diving for the floor of the cab as Epps came thundering around the corner.

However, he didn't even bother questioning Optimus if he had seen his niece, as the woman had been quite clear (or at least the last time he checked), that she was terrified of the Autobots.

No, Epps just kept on running, and Ellie didn't dare breathe until she was positive that the angry man was gone. Letting the air out shakily, she couldn't help but allow herself a satisfied smirk.

"Thanks Boss." she murmured, patting the dashboard gently. "I apologize for my, uh, way in climbing you. But it was a little necessary. I'll make it up to you by giving you a good wash later, alright?"

"_Wash?" _

Ellie gaped at the dashboard. Although she couldn't see Optimus' face, she could imagine the look of confusion that was currently crossing said face.

"You don't know what a wash is?" she finally managed. "Oh boy, Boss. You've got a lot to learn."

_"It would appear so." _

There was silence for several minutes as Ellie mused.

"You know, I don't think I've seen any of you guys washed yet." she muttered to herself, stroking her chin thoughtfully. "Hey Optimus, would it be alright with you if I organize a wash for all of you guys?"

_"I believe that it could be beneficial.." _Optimus began. _"The World Wide Web has extensive information on such a subject."_

Snorting, Ellie almost tipped over from laughter. "Uhm..I don't recommend you read anything about washing unless it's on Wikipedia, Boss. You may find something unexpected otherwise."

A moment later, the entire frame of the truck shuddered, and Ellie smiled knowingly.

"Like that, for example."


	21. Car Wash and Check-ups

_It's a funny thing about life; _

_if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it. _

_-W. Somerset Maugham_

-;-

The next day found Ellie nursing a nasty bump on the back of her head from when Epps had finally managed to catch up to her. After a rather long and painful lecture, plus her newest injury, the mocha skinned woman had decided that it was a good day to wash the Autobots.

Ratchet and Jolt were the first to arrive, closely followed by a hesitant looking Prowl, and then the rest of the mechs trickled in until Ellie was sure that they had all arrived.

"Good thing I picked the tarmac to do this." she nodded to herself as she tested the hose. "Otherwise it would be a bit crowded."

Sideswipe, who happened to be nearby, laughed brightly at her statement before falling silent as she shot him an amused look.

"Calm down, Sides. I'm not about to go spraying you. Not without some warning, at least."

The silver Stingray visibly relaxed, causing Ellie to roll her eyes.

"So, who wants to go first?" she called over the decent sized group of vehicles.

No answer.

Raising a brow, Ellie shifted her weight to one hip and crossed her arms, a sponge in one hand. "Now boys, I believe it's time to mech up and decide which one of you is going first. Because if _you _don't volunteer, _I'm _going to start spraying. And I'm fairly certain I can say that you won't like it."

To her surprise, Prowl rolled forward, the small Cybertronian vehicle closely resembling a motorcycle, before parking itself in front of her.

"Thank you, Prowl." she nodded politely as she grabbed the hose, double checking the temperature before dousing the mech in semi warm water and getting to work.

-;-

An hour later, and Ellie had done Prowl, Bumblebee, and was just getting to work on Jolt when her uncle appeared out of nowhere.

Without even looking up, she levelled the hose in his general direction, smirking when his surprised yell told her that she had successfully managed to douse him in water. Pausing in her gentle scrubbing of Jolt's tire rims, she spared him a glance for only a moment before going back to cleaning the mech.

"What was that for?" Epps spluttered.

"Hitting me, lecturing me, trying to lock me in my room...should I continue?" Ellie replied calmly, apologizing as she caught a bolt in the wheel. "I don't appreciate the effort in attempting to parent me, Uncle Epps."

"But-"

"Now, if you're quite done, I still have quite a few mechs to clean, and you're keeping me from doing so. So, I suggest you get lost before I spray you again."

"Fine." Epps threw up his hands before storming off, leaving Ellie to sigh heavily and fall into a slightly uncomfortable silence as she continued to work along Jolt's sides, sponge easily sliding along the metal.

"Is there something wrong?" Jolt asked hesitantly.

"Not really." Ellie shrugged, though there was definitely a frown tugging at her lips. "I just don't really like how Uncle Epps has been acting since I've gotten here. He's trying to parent me. But I'm a full grown woman now, and as much as I love him, I can't stand all of this parental stuff. It's really stressful."

"Why don't you tell him so?"

"Because I've already tried that. Several times, in fact." Ellie sighed. "He just doesn't want to listen. And to be honest, I don't know what _will _make him listen."

"Hey, Ellie!"

The sound of Will's call made the mocha skinned woman blink before straightening, shielding her eyes from the sun so she could look over to the man. He was waving at her from the shade of the hangar, a lawn chair set up next to a cooler. It looked like Fig and Graham were also present, though it was hard to tell...but the general idea was there.

Snorting, she waved back half-heartedly before rolling her eyes at Jolt. "Men. Just because I'm one of the only women who actually stays on base doesn't mean they need to be watching me do _everything_."

Jolt shook beneath Ellie's careful hands, a muffled burst of static coming through his speakers. "They are merely 'enjoying the scenery', as you humans say."

"Not you too.." she groaned, sinking onto his soapy hood, enjoying the momentary cool of the metal. "Everyone around here is acting like I'm the first woman that they've ever seen. I think Will might be behind it, but I don't at the same time."

"Well, it would seem that it is unfortunate to be yourself." Jolt replied with some amusement, rocking back on his frame.

-;-

Several hours later, Ellie was sunburnt and almost ready to start murdering the now rather large group of soldiers who had gathered to watch the show of the mocha skinned woman washing all of the Autobots alt-modes. Personally, she couldn't see what the hell would be so entertaining about that, but retracted the thought almost as soon as it came to mind. She knew exactly what kind of things that the men were thinking, and holy hell did she not want to go there. It was awkward, to say the least.

As Optimus rolled forward, she pushed aside all of her irritation for the mech, knowing that it wouldn't get her anywhere, and certainly wouldn't earn her any brownie points if she was snippy with him. Although, she had a feeling that even if she was a little rude to the Prime, he wouldn't really mind all that much. It just seemed to be something that was a part of him. He was forgiving.

"Hey Boss." she greeted with a smile.

"Hello, Elina." Optimus greeted warmly. The mocha skinned woman leaned into the sound, her eyes half drifting closed for a moment before she snapped out of it and hefted the hose. Ignoring the stares of the men boring into her back, Ellie began hosing the large semi down.

There was silence for the next several minutes before Ellie found that she had to excuse herself from Optimus in order to stalk over to the men who were doggedly continuing to watch her.

_"ALRIGHT! I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU PEOPLE! YOU'VE BEEN WATCHING ME FOR THE LAST SEVEN HOURS! SEVEN! AND WILL, WHY ARE YOU EVEN ENCOURAGING THEM!? MY UNCLE IS GOING TO MURDER YOU ALL! NOW BUGGER OFF BEFORE I DEPOSIT MY FOOT SO FAR UP YOUR ASSES THAT THE INTEREST ALONE WILL BE ENOUGH FOR ME TO RETIRE!" _

Will looked slightly amused at her outburst, while the other soldiers simply looked confused. They didn't quite know what to make of Ellie's threat. After all, she _had _been out in the sun for most of the day, and she had been up fairly early, so they didn't know if she was serious or just acting on impulse.

At a threatening snarl and a step from Ellie, however, the men decided they rather liked their nether regions the way they were, and scrambled to get away.

"That's what I thought." she hissed before sending a dark glare towards Lennox. "And if _you _hadn't been sitting here in the first place, none of this would have happened."

Will held up his hands in defeat before smirking at her cheekily and handing her a water bottle, which she downed in moments.

"Thanks." she nodded before heading back over to Optimus.

"Sorry about that, Prime." she apologized quietly before she got back to work, spraying herself with the hose in the process to cool off her stinging shoulders.

"It is not a problem, Elina." the Prime replied with a form of amusement. "I must admit, that I did not think that those men would run so quickly in their haste."

Ellie barked out a laugh, the hose shaking as she shook with the force of her snickers. "Yeah, that tends to happen."

-;-

"So...anything I should be aware of, Will? Anything like, I don't know, a stalker group?"

"Nope." Will replied casually, taking a sip from his water. "Go ask your uncle."

"Ugh!" she groaned, throwing her hands up and stalking off. Honestly, could she not get one straight answer from anyone these days? Besides that, she really needed to go get some aloe and rub it all over her shoulders. They stung like one hell of a bitch, and she was not looking forward to having to deal with it tomorrow when it was going to be that much worse. "That's it! I've had it with you people!"

"What people?" Lex asked curiously as Ellie stormed by. The blond was alone for once, and Ellie had to wonder where the rest of her team had disappeared to this time. Usually they hung together in a pack.

"Men." Ellie deadpanned.

"Ahh. Come sit with me?" Lex shifted over, patting the bench seat next to her invitingly. "I promise I don't bite that hard."

-;-

"-so there's you, Eliza, Marcus, Michael, Andy, Jeff, Ryan, Grady, and Lance?" Ellie clarified. Lex had been pouring information about the other members of the SRT down her throat for the last forty minutes, and now, at least, she knew who all the members of the SRT were for future reference.

"Yep!" Lex grinned, toying with her water bottle idly. "So, what's it like working with the Autobots?"

"Well, so far it's been pretty good." Ellie hummed. "But I honestly haven't really gotten to know any of them yet because of the 'kidnapping' incident when I first got here."

"Kidnapping incident? I sense a story." Lex giggled, eyes sparkling.

"Well, there's not much to say. I got kidnapped by one of them and kept in a giant glass jar, but no one's told me which one did it. But what they don't know is that I've figured out it's one of the Chevys puttering around."

"Wow." Lex's eyes grew big, ocean blue and big as saucers.

"Yeah." the mocha skinned woman shrugged. "It's all good now though, as long as I don't have to actually have that much contact with them in the future. The new 'bot though, he seems okay."

"I heard about that last night. No one's really seen him- it is a him, right?"

"Yep. His name's Prowl. I don't know anything about him yet, other than he has some kind of problem in his processor that makes him faint." Ellie nodded.

"...That's way cool."

The mocha skinned woman laughed lightly at the sheer curiosity that she could see in Lex's eyes, and she blinked suddenly as a thought came to her. "Hey, you wanna come with me to the Med Bay? I've got some stuff to do, and if you want you could come along, maybe meet Jolt if he's there too."

"Really?" Lex's eyes grew even wider, and Ellie wondered just how far they could go without them popping out of her head entirely.

"Sure. Besides, I think you'd get along great with Ironhide."

"Ironhide? He's the big black one right?" Lex asked as the two women got up from the table. Ellie nodded, a smirk tugging at her lips.

"Yep. And if I'm right, he and Sideswipe are sparring right now. You up to a pitstop?"

-;-

Lex was just as taken with the giant mechs battling as Ellie had first been, her blue eyes unable to be removed from the sight that was presented to them. Ellie reclined comfortably against the wall, while Lex leaned forward, unblinking. Actually, Ellie wasn't sure how long the blond had gone without blinking.

Finally, the two mechs broke apart, Ironhide moving to clap a servo on Sideswipe's back before turning his attention to Ellie.

"And who is this?" he tilted his helm to one side slightly, but Ellie could tell that he was more or less directing the query towards Lex.

"Lex Andrews, member of the resident SRT here on base." the blond straightened. Her tone and stance, however, told quite clearly that there was no fear whatsoever in her.

Ironhide continued to stare at the woman for another several moments before snorting.

"The femmes on this base are not weaklings." he offered as an explanation before Sideswipe cocked his head.

"'Hide, Prime wants to see us. Something about new signals being picked up." the silver mech said smoothly, his low voice alluring. Ellie internally wondered why all the really sexy sounding ones had to be Cybetronian. If they were human...whoo, Ellie wasn't going to say much on that.

"Hn. Very well. Femme, Ratchet is also comm-ing. He would like to see you as soon as you are 'done fragging around'." Ironhide added as an afterthought before both of the Autobots folded down into their alt-modes and tore off out of the hangar.

"Charming fellow, isn't he?" Lex hummed.

"You have no idea."

-;-

"Let me see, Elina."

With a long suffering sigh, Ellie unwrapped her palm and held it up for Ratchet to take a look at. Already, the cream that Jolt had given her had sealed up the gash, and the signs of infection were receding quickly.

"So, how did you get those?" Lex finally decided to ask.

"She climbed into Prowl's landfall pod to online him." Ratchet replied absently as he offered the mocha skinned woman a servo. "Speaking of which, he would like to formally introduce himself when you find the time."

Ellie felt her face flush as she held in her giggles. "I suppose so...poor guy. I don't think he's ever going to forget seeing me wander around buck naked."

Jolt, standing off to one side, made a sound similar to a cat being strangled before he 'coughed' behind his servo, and Ratchet barely missed a beat as a wrench magically appeared in his free servo. A moment later, the sound of Jolt yelping and crashing to the ground had both Lex and Ellie bursting into laughter, Ellie patting Ratchet's thumb for a job well done.

After another several minutes of close examination, in which Ratchet took a look at the mocha skinned womans forearms and knees, she was cleared to go back to her Med Bay, Lex reluctantly following behind. The blond was so easily taken with the Autobots that it was a little ridiculous. How was she not running away in fear? Ellie could recall all too well her first encounter with the Autobots, and it was still a little embarrassing to remember.

"I should really go find Bee..or something else that is probably important, but I'm actually really freaking tired." Ellie mumbled to herself as Lex excused herself to go find Andy. "Maybe I'll just go pass out in the Med Bay. Then if anyone needs me I'll already be there."

That in mind, Ellie wandered towards her Med Bay, fully intent on having a nap.


	22. Alt-modes and Murder

_From the errors of others, _

_a wise man corrects his own._

_-Publilius Syrus_

-;-

It was a week later when all of the Autobots began getting a little twitchy, and they weren't the only ones.

Lennox had alerted Ellie that the soldiers needed to go through the monthly examinations to make sure that everyone was clear for duty: something that Ellie hadn't been aware of until she had been cornered in her Med Bay.

The Autobots, on the other hand, had confirmed that a rather large group of signals were heading towards Earth. However, they hadn't managed to figure out if it was a group of Autobots or Decepticons or a little bit of both.

Plus, there was something up with Bumblebee. Apparently, (and Ellie only knew this after Prime had managed to get her to come to him) Bee was already a Guardian for some kid back in America, and was going to be heading back over in the next couple of weeks to resume his Guardian duties. Something to do with all of the legalities still being figured out considering that NEST was still a new organization and there were still some bumps to smooth out.

Personally, in all honesty, Ellie didn't like it. Bee was still the one Autobot that she felt the most comfortable around, even though she was beginning to make connections with the other 'bots now, and the thought of him leaving was like a blow to the face.

Why hadn't the yellow scout told her himself? Sure, it would be one hell of a lot harder to swallow, but it would also be easier than to hear it from Optimus Prime, his commanding officer.

So yes, Ellie was mildly pissed, to say the least.

Snarling curses as she cleaned up her Med Bay for the coming examinations, the mocha skinned woman seriously considered taking a page out of Ratchet's book and finding something heavy to bash the brains of anyone who even thought about trying anything funny with her.

Hmm...she rather liked the sounds of that. Maybe she could go see Ratchet about getting some kind of tool after everything was in place...

-;-

As luck would have it, Ellie ran into Prowl on her way to the Med Bay. Literally.

With a startled yelp, the mocha skinned woman fell backwards onto her rear, injured palm of course going to break her fall and only making the situation worse.

"My apologies, femme." the mech stated, almost mechanically as he kneeled to assist her back to her feet.

"It's alright, Prowl." she replied, wincing as she got back onto her feet. "I should have been paying more attention to my surroundings."

Recognition seemed to spark in his optics, and he paused, seemingly examining her more closely. "You are the femme who onlined me from stasis-lock."

Ellie shot him a small smile. "That would be me, yeah. Crazy femme who doesn't like the dark."

"I give you my thanks.."

"Ellie." the mocha skinned woman replied, holding out her hand. It took a moment of dimming his optics, but a second later Prowl tentatively offered her a finger for her to shake. "It's nice to see you back on your feet considering the last time we met."

It was a light jab in his direction, but apparently the Autobot didn't get it, judging by the lack of expression on his faceplates. With a sigh, she shifted, eager to both be on her way and stick around to learn more about this mech.

"So...where are you headed?" Ellie asked curiously, feeling a little awkward considering that they didn't really know what to make of one another.

"To the main hangar. There are several selections of an alternate mode that I am to choose from."

"Would you mind if I tagged along?" Ellie asked, almost shyly. Hey, it wasn't her fault that these new guys kept on throwing her off her game!

Prowl said nothing, but offered her a servo. Cautiously, she climbed on, being careful not to cause the mech any additional discomfort. How she was doing so was something that she wasn't even sure of, but she went along with it for the hell of it.

"Thanks." she said softly as the slender mech made his way through the halls. "I mean, you don't have to do this, and I hope I'm not causing you to pull a Sideswipe and go all girly on me."

"Sideswipe has a paint complex." Prowl stated.

Ellie blinked owlishly, staring up at the mechs face, not seeing anything out of place there but getting the distinct feeling that he had just cracked a joke. Grinning, she nodded.

"Something like that."

-;-

"Alex, leave me the fuck alone."

"Leon, stop being so stubborn."

"How about not, and say we did?"

Alex sighed. "Whether you like it or not, you have to go to this party, Leo. All of us have to. Even Joe's going."

"I don't care. I have plans, and I'm not about to skip out on them." the brunette retorted, crossing her arms. "So excuse me for having a life other than work."

The male pinched the bridge of his nose, inhaling deeply for several moments. "You know what, fine. I don't care right now. If you're really going to be that much of a bitch about it, go back to doing whatever the fuck you were doing."

"I will." Leon shot back, storming back over to the motorcycle she'd been working on repainting. "Ugh. Fucking men."

She was _so _going to be calling Ellie when she got home.

-;-

Ellie looked over the several different smaller vehicles that Prowl was examining critically, wondering which of them he would choose.

There were four different types of motorcycles, all of which were drool worthy, along with a couple of small cars that she was sure she should probably be able to name but couldn't.

Optimus and Ratchet, along with Will and her uncle, were the only others in the hangar- meaning less stress for Prowl. Hopefully. The way Ratchet was glowering over at Epps, she hoped that nothing too serious had happened. It wouldn't exactly be the best if the Autobots went and killed one of the higher ups on base. It would cause so many different problems that Ellie was pretty sure that NEST would be under probation for a good long while.

Finally, after about twenty minutes, Prowl paused in front of a sleek, slightly bulky looking bike, one that looked to be bronze and black. Glancing over to Ratchet, the Medic nodded curtly back.

A moment later, ther was the sound of the all too familiar transformation that Ellie was steadily growing more used to, and an identical version of the bike was parked in front of the other until Prowl transformed back up.

The armor that the mech had lost (sometime during landfall, said Ratchet) was replaced by the bronze and black, though his light blue visor was still planted firmly over his optics.

Stretching easily, Ellie could already tell that this mech was much more of an athlete than even Sideswipe was. As the mech flew through several different stances that looked suspiciously like they were from a japanese movie, she was only being proven correct. Ratchet rolled his optics, crossing his arms as he watched the newest arrival testing out his new armor.

Seemingly satisfied for the moment, Prowl stilled, allowing Ratchet to come forward and do something to the now slender doorwings that graced his back.

After pressing several different switches behind a panel, Prowl relaxed ever so slightly, a soft vent leaving him before he flicked the doorwings experimentally.

"I give you my thanks, Ratchet." the mech nodded. "The sensation is...disorienting when there is nothing being transmitted through the relays."

Ratchet shrugged before tapping his helm. "I already knew that, Prowl. You're a doorwinger by nature. It's instinctive that it will be uncomfortable if your doorwings are removed or your sensor panels can't be accessed."

Before the two mechs could go into any further conversation that would no doubt confuse Ellie, Optimus stepped forward, a smile crossing his faceplates. "Your new armor is suiting."

Prowl nodded curtly. "After running through the comparisons to the different models, this particular model posed a thirteen percent higher chance of withstanding most of the combatitive risks needed should there be a battle of any kind."

"It is good to hear." Optimus nodded, sending a quick glance to Ellie before turning to Ratchet. "Now, I believe that you and Elina have some business to speak of concerning the upcoming examinations."

Prowl sent an inquiring look Ellie's way, but she brushed it off for a moment before plastering a bright grin on her face. "Yep! I'd like to know if it would be possible to borrow something heavy in order to control the more rowdy soldiers for the examinations."

The statement, said so simply, had Will nearly busting his gut with chuckles, while Epps simply huffed.

Ratchet appeared to be deep in thought for a moment before sending a look over at Epps and Will before looking back to Ellie. Ellie shrugged, going for the 'I'm completely innocent and totally not planning to do anything to my superiors' look.

"In that case, I don't see why not." Ratchet finally vented. "But I am not responsible for any incidents that may occur while you are in possession of whatever object you are given."

"Of course." Ellie blinked with an impish grin. "I'll let you know when the examinations start."

Somehow, no one present was very comforted by that thought.

-;-

_"Ellie...I want to kill him. Slowly and with great pleasure." _

"Uh, Lion, not to be all what the hell, but there's really not a lot that I can do about it either way. I'm overseas, and I'd have about twenty hours in flights to even get over to you. Not to mention the time that it would take to get to the shop, in which you would have already had plenty of time to deposit the body somewhere and be almost done cleaning up the mess. Just saying."

_"I hate it when you go all smart on me."_

"Yeah, well..someone has to do it. And since it's obviously not going to be you..."

_"Haha, very funny. Back on topic here." _

Ellie sighed, reclining against her chair as she stared at the opposite wall in the Med Bay. "Leon, there's not really even a topic to talk about here. You just started going off about how you want to kill Alex. Remember?"

_"Right...so, what's new with you?"_

"Not a lot. Just getting ready for the examinations coming up, trying to get over Uncle Epps being his usual prying self, that kind of thing."

_"Awwww...I'm sorry. You need a hug? Oh! Before I forget, the reason I want to kill Alex is because he wants me to go to this stupid staff gathering next week, and it's scheduled right when we're supposed to do that web-cam chat." _

"Ah. You know, Leon, that we could do it the next day, right? Next week, as far as I know, there's not a lot going on. Plus, I think it would be good for you to actually get out and go do something other than pining after me."

_"I don't pine!" _

"Honey, I hate to break it to you, but yeah, you kinda do." Ellie rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I know you don't really get to talk to me much, but I really kinda do have to go. Love you."

_"Love you too." _came the sulky reply before the line went dead.

"Who was that?"

Ellie jumped, readying her borrowed wrench threateningly until she realized that it was only Will. "Leon."

The soldier raised a brow. "The girl that we brought over? You two in a relationship?"

"Were, yeah. Back in college. Some habits haven't really changed since then, though." Ellie shrugged as she put the wrench back down. "So, I doubt there's no reason you decided to venture in here willingly, unless you want to get your examination over and done with. Which I don't blame you for. I think Marcus is going to end up a patient in here if he tries anything."

"You two really don't like each other." came the observation.

She snorted. "Is it really that obvious?"

"Just a little." Will grinned back. "And yeah, I do want to get the examination over and done with. Then I can sit back and laugh at all the other poor bastards who get to be dragged in here tomorrow."

Ellie snorted as she pulled on a pair of gloves. "Good point."


	23. Departure

_It is never to late to be what you might have been._

_-George Elliot_

-;-

Ellie was shaken awake the next morning by a rather cautious looking Fig.

Brave man.

The mocha skinned woman yawned widely before prying open her eyes into a glare.

Rather than having the desired effect (scaring off the irritance that he was), Fig thrust a mug of coffee into her hands and began dragging her out of bed as she chugged the delicious caffeine giving beverage.

"Whas goin' on?" she mumbled through her coffee, wondering what on earth the time was.

"Change of plans. Bumblebee's headed back over to America today, _chica_." the Spanish man replied, herding her along with far too much ease. "And if you want to say _adios_, I suggest _se mueve, chica!_"

"I don' speak Spanish, Fig." Ellie muttered, though she was slowly managing to process everything else that had been said.

And then it clicked.

_"BEE'S LEAVING TODAY!?"_

-;-

Ellie wasn't the only one who seemed to be unhappy that Bee was leaving early. In fact, it seemed that a hefty chunk of the people and Autobots were there to see him off. And on the day that examinations were set to start, too? What a way to wake up.

To even it out, the Autobots were also going to get their routine examinations- meaning that it was going to be one hell of a week.

Fig had practically thrown her at the nearest Autobot in his haste to avoid her infinite wrath. Who just so happened to be the stoic and level-headed Prowl, who Ellie still hadn't quite managed to begin to befriend.

His shiny black and bronze armor gleamed in the not yet dawn that was crawling across the sky, somehow managing to look regal despite the fact that she was sure he wasn't trying to.

Bumblebee turned for the third time in the last ten seconds and made yet another break for Ellie, his optics glimmering with unshed 'tears'. She sighed, knowing this wasn't making it any easier for either of them. It was disappointing enough that she was losing the only 'bot who had been with her nearly from the get go in the last couple of months, but to have him drawing out the good-bye too?

It wasn't really a good thing.

Bee picked Ellie up gently from beside Prowl into his servos, letting the tears- which consisted of wiper fluid- fall. On top of that, he was making the most pitiful whining sounds Ellie had ever heard in her life.

"I know, Bee." she muttered awkwardly, patting his thumb. "I'm gonna miss you too. But hey, if you're ever in San Francisco, drop by and say hi to Leon for me."

That one seemed to do the trick. Playing a track of a child laughing, Bee shook his helm and looked down at Ellie with a look of affection.

"What? You think it wouldn't be hilarious to see the _exact _Camaro she rode in here driving by her house?"

Bumblebee snorted before depositing her back to the ever emotionless Prowl before clicking something, to which Prowl actually _rolled his optics_.

"We will miss you Bumblebee. Send our regards to Mikaela and Samuel." Optimus smiled, offering the smaller yellow Autobot a servo. Ellie didn't really understand the purpose of the entire situation, having only had enough coffee to get her this far, so almost everything was going right through her mind and out again without actually being absorbed.

Meh. Most of it had to do with Bee at the moment. Everything else could wait a while. Like more coffee. And then examinations. Those would be fun.

-;-

It took another twenty minutes to get Bee loaded onto the plane, and then another ten before the plane was out of sight. Surprisingly, everyone remained out on the tarmac, even as the sun rose and cast its rosy shadow across Diego Garcia.

And then-

"_SCATTER!"_

Autobots and humans alike literally disappeared into thin air in their haste to get away from the two Medics, and in moments it was only Ellie, Ratchet and Will remaining out on the tarmac, Ellie wondering what the hell had just happened.

Looked like coffee would have to wait. Cracking her knuckles, Ellie let a feral grin stretch across her face.

"Let's get started."

-;-

"Fig! I know you're in there!"

"No you don't!"

"I do now!"

"Shit! Run for your lives, men!"

Ellie shook her head in mock pity as the echoes of panicking soldiers reached her ears. Honestly. If it wasn't the fact that the airvent cover was lying on the floor, it would be the string of Spanish curses that were drifting through said vents that would give Fig away.

Touching her headset, she tuned in to the other conversations that were going on.

_"-ing Michael and Andy by later."_

_"-aggers managed to get away." _

"Mocha to Bootstrap. I've confirmed the location of Tacobell and possible others in Sector three-point-nine. Requesting back-up to be posted at all exit points ASAP. I'm going in."

_"Roger that, Mocha. Handler and Pixie are ready to rumble. Bootstrap out." _

Ellie grinned before calculating the distance between herself and the ledge of the airvent. Crouching, she shifted her weight for a moment before leaping, gloved hands latching on to the edge of the vent and hauling herself up. Luckily enough for her, the vents weren't actually all that dark, considering that there were openings that went to the walls and opened to the natural light of the sun. Plus, there were smaller openings in the bottom of the vents. And, the vents were huge. Her size, in fact. She could almost stand up in them if she tried.

Taking a deep breath, she entered the depths of the airvents.

The things she did for her career.

-;-

Meanwhile, Ratchet was pinning down Sideswipe, who was giving the Medic a piece of his mind as he did so.

_"SLAGGING INSANE MEDIC! WHAT'RE YOU TRYING TO DO, OFFLINE ME!? LET ME GO! I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!"_

Ratchet snarled, cuffing Sideswipe across the helm as he did so. He was getting too old for this shit. Next time it would be Jolt going after all of these slaggers. He would hole himself up in his Med Bay and watch the chaos.

"Don't tempt me." he warned as Sideswipe tried to wriggle out from underneath the Medic.

Grumbling, he subspaced a sedative and managed to get the frontliner in a main energon line. The silver mech almost looked startled for a moment, and then his optics dulled and he fell into statis.

"Fragging youngling. I ought to reformat him into a toaster-oven."

-;-

Ellie quietly crept around another corner. She could hear Fig's whispers getting louder.

Reaching to her belt, she grabbed at the borrowed wrench from Ratchet and held it tightly in one hand, while the other was at the ready to grab her unsuspecting victims.

"Ha. I win again." Fig was saying smugly.

"Goddamnit! How the hell do you keep winning?" came her uncles voice.

Ellie frowned, wondering what the hell they were doing.

Peeking around the next corner, the mocha skinned woman was thoroughly tempted to facepalm. Her uncle and Fig were sitting up in an airvent playing poker. With what appeared to be Skittles. Did they really think that she wouldn't have found them?

Before they could move, Ellie pounced, nailing Fig on the head with the wrench while her other hand clamped down on her uncles ear. He yelped, attempting to wriggle out of the tight grip that was crushing his lobe.

"Hey Uncle Epps." she said casually, twirling the wrench in her hand. "Did you miss me?"

-;-

"Are we there yet?"

"Not yet." came the clipped reply.

"Pit, Sunny, no need to be so mean." an orange femme drawled from her position at the control board. "Glyph there was only asking a question."

"Will all of you blasted younglings shut the frag up? Some of us are _trying _to recharge over here."

"Yeah, yeah, Mia. Some of us are trying to keep this piece of slag from blowing us all to Pit."

"Explosions..." Flareup sighed happily. "Hey Arcee, remember that one time.."

"I never want to remember that orn again."

"Flareup, Arcee, Sunstreaker. That is enough."

"Yes, Elita.." the three guilty Autobots chorused.

"And Chromia, try not to offline them."

"I make no promises." the sky blue femmed huffed from her makeshift berth.

"Glyph, have you come up with any new data?" the pink femme asked, moving behind the darker blue femme to glance at the screen. The femme shook her head. "Sorry, nothing new. But ETA is estimated in less than half an orn."

"Flareup. Any signs of Decepticon pursuit?" Elita turned to the orange femme, who focused solely on her screens for several seconds before nodding. "Yes. The same singular signal is still registering."

"Sunstreaker, anything coming over your bond?"

"No."

"Alright then! Time to play the waiting game! Anybot up for a game of boredom?" Flareup snorted.

"Let's just sit tight at the moment. Alert me if there are any changes."

"Yes ma'am." the two femmes chorused dutifully.

Sunstreaker, please let us know if you recieve any comms."

The golden mech didn't respond, but nodded once.

"Thank you." Elita smiled softly before joining Chromia.

The best that they could do was wait and see, now.


	24. Arrivals

_Every creator painfully experiences the chasm between his inner vision and its ultimate expression._

_-Isaac Bashevis Singer_

-;-

The remainder of the week seemed to fly by after the first day of examinations. Ratchet was almost done all of the Autobots, save for a certain mysteriously missing Weapons Specialist. There were rumors that he was hiding somewhere on the island, but considering that it was busy enough with scrambling humans who were running from the fearsome mocha skinned woman wielding a wrench, attention and efforts were limited.

Prowl had taken over the Communications Department, much to the relief of the senior officers. The cool mech was perfect for the job, considering that he was apparently also a tactician. The firewalls had never been stronger than they had after Ellie and Prowl were through with them.

All the while, the signals coming from just outside of Earth's stratosphere were growing closer each day, making more of the Autobots grow more eager. The signals had been confirmed as Autobot, and now there were even bets being placed on which 'bots it would be.

Sideswipe, on the other hand, was growing more anxious everyday, and Ellie was growing concerned. What was so bad about there being new arrivals on Earth?

This is what led her to hunt down the mech.

-;-

"Hey Sideswipe?"

The silver mech barely glanced down at her before he vented heavily and knelt. "What is it, femme."

"Why are you so out of it? Isn't it a good thing that more Autobots are coming to Earth?"

For a moment, she thought that Sideswipe might actually crush her as his optics flashed, but it soon passed as he vented again. "Yes, it is."

"Then why are you getting so stressed out?"

"Because-" the mech looked troubled. "I don't suppose that you know that I have a twin."

Ellie blinked. "You have a twin?"

Sideswipe nodded once, curtly. "His name's Sunstreaker. I haven't seen him in many vorns."

The mocha skinned woman tilted her head to one side, trying to recall if she had been told this particular term. At seeing Sideswipe raise an optic ridge, she supposed not.

"A vorn is equivalent to eighty-three of your human years." he offered as explanation.

"So what does all of this have to do with the new arrivals?" Ellie wondered.

"I don't know if Sunstreaker is one of the new 'bots coming. I haven't been able to feel him over our bond since.."

Ellie wisely chose to stay silent. Sideswipe was looking a little lost in his memories at the moment, and she didn't know if they were good or bad. And the mech had the right to his privacy; she wouldn't ask about when the last time he had seen his twin was or any of that sort of thing. It was a little rude to do so, in her mind.

"It's okay, Sideswipe. You don't have to tell me." she smiled softly, tentatively going to rest her hand, so tiny in comparison to his own, on his thumb. "I get it now. You're worried about getting your hopes too high about it being Sunstreaker coming."

Sideswipe flashed a slightly surprised look down at Ellie, but the mocha skinned woman had already retracted her hand and was now walking down the hall towards Ratchet's Med Bay. He was struck with a sudden urge to call her back, but after a moment decided against it. She was obviously done with their conversation, so he would leave it. But he had to wonder why she had sounded so mournful when she had said that she understood.

Ellie was a very strange femme.

-;-

"OW! SLAG IT, MIA, WATCH WHERE YOU'RE SWINGING!"

"Whoops. Sorry."

Flareup pouted, rubbing the now mildly dented part of her helm from where the other femme had connected moments previous, before going back to her screens. "Elita, we're about to connect with the gravitational pull of this planet. I suggest we all get to our stations."

Elita nodded in agreement before shooting Sunstreaker a look that clearly said 'if-you-try-anything-I'm-going-to-rip-your-spark-out'. The golden mech had been becoming even more sulky than usual over the last orn, and she couldn't quite tell if it was because of the transmission that they had recieved several hundred orns ago. She knew that the frontliner was hoping that Sideswipe would be on this 'Earth', but wasn't sure if he was even online any longer.

"Sunstreaker, activate the landfall sequence." she requested. "I have a feeling that this is going to be a rough landing."

"I call the Decepticon punk that's been following us!" Flareup cheered. At a stern look from Chromia, she wilted slightly, but puffed her cheekplates out defiantly. "What? I haven't made anything explode since we've been on this slagging scrapheap and the Decepticon's a good place to start."

"She's got a point." Glyph pointed out, lacing her fingers together and resting her chin on them. "Besides, her skills could be quite useful."

"Uh huh.." Chromia deadpanned. "In what way, exactly?"

"Well, we don't know if there are any hostiles on this planet, although judging by the amount of landmass in comparison to what appears to be water, and taking into consideration that there is oxygen as far as I can tell...I would say probability of life forms on this planet to be 97%." Glyph replied calmly. "And I would say that there is a 78% chance that they are organic life forms."

"Ewwww...organics." Arcee shuddered. "They're weird little creatures."

"Just the ones we've encountered thus far." Glyph interjected. "For all we know, this species is much more advanced than we are currently giving them credit for."

"Whatever you say, Glyph." Chromia snorted, going back to polishing her cannons, though she had relocated to a seat as she'd been told. Elita too, had retreated to her own seat, and Sunstreaker was in the background finishing up keying in the landfall codes.

"Time to strap ourselves in, femmes. Mech." Flareup commented cheerfully. "I think we may end up in stasis!"

-;-

"Prime! New reports in. There is a ship that has just hit Kenya. We can be there in two hours."

Ellie paused in walking past the open office door; it wasn't her fault that whoever had entered had left it open for anyone to look in. Plus, she was far too curious for her own good. Leon's words, of course.

"Very well. Thank you, Ratchet." Optimus' replied, standing from his robot sized desk. "Gather up Ironhide and Sideswipe, as well as William and Elina. This experience is not one to be turned down."

"Well," Ellie said dryly, leaning against the huge doorframe, "I'm right here."

"Hello, Ellie." Optimus greeted gently.

"Elina." Ratchet hummed absently before dimming his optics. A moment later, they brightened again.

"Why do you really want me to come along on this mission?" the mocha skinned woman asked. "I'm pretty sure it's not just for the experience; after getting Prowl out of his pod, I have a pretty good feeling I may know what you might need me for."

Optimus chuckled. "Although that may be one part of it, you have shown more interest than most about us, even though you may not inquire about it most times. Unless I am mistaken, you are welcome to join us."

That seemed like a pretty reasonable offer. Plus, it was true. Ellie was pretty curious about the Autobots, and she was still a little too timid to actually gather her courage and ask them. As Leon usually said, "Grow a pair and just do it, Ellie."

"Alright." she shrugged. "It's not like I have any more patients to hunt down other than Marcus."

"The SRT Second in Command?" Ratchet's tone held a trace of amusement. "The same male that you seem to have an endless feud with?"

"Same asshole." Ellie returned almost immediately. "He's going to leave my Med Bay in pieces if he doesn't behave."

"So is Ironhide, the slagger. I'll weld his fat, trigger happy aft to the berth if I have to."

"I hope you realize that I would pay to see that."

-;-

Sideswipe was twitching worse than Ellie in withdrawl.

They were almost at the location of the crashsite, and Ellie was admiring the scenery for the most part. Kenya was beautiful. There were so many different things to see, and already, Will had had to restrain her from running across the savannah with claims that she was going to find Rafiki.

That had led to a rather entertaining conversation (at least for Optimus, who they were riding in) that had resulted in Will admitting that he had no idea what the Lion King was and Ellie gaping at him before saying that she wasn't talking to him for the rest of the day.

Which was now how Ellie had resulted in asking Optimus to tell Lennox that she had to pee.

"William, Ellie has to...relieve herself." Optimus coughed awkwardly over the stereo. Though from what she could tell, Optimus was trying not to bust himself laughing at the predicament that Will now found himself in.

"Fine. Pull over, Optimus."

Ellie sighed in relief as she waded through the grass for several moments before she dubbed herself both deep enough and far enough away from the other Autobots that she could relieve herself.

It wasn't until she was beginning to walk back that she noticed the gigantic snake watching her.

With an ungodly shriek, she leapt higher than the grass and bolted for Optimus' cab, clambering in and slamming the door behind her.

"Big snake. Big snake. Really _fucking _big snake." she chanted. "And sorry, Boss."

There was a sound that sounded suspiciously like a snort before the semi replied. "It is not a problem, Elina."

She shrugged, still twitching as she looked out the open window. She really fucking hated snakes. They were creepy, and icky, and _ewwwww_.

Ironhide honked his horn, and not for the first time, Ellie wondered why Will wasn't riding with him, considering that he _was _his Guardian. Shouldn't the whole Guardian thing mean that Will rode with Ironhide? Ah well, not that she was going to talk to Will for the rest of the day. How could a guy with a two year old little girl _not _know what the Lion King was? Ellie had grown up on Disney. Hell, she still watched Oliver and Company and The Fox and the Hound on a rainy day!

Their little band continued along the road, Optimus still in the lead with Sideswipe close behind. Then there was Ratchet, and at the very back of the pack was Ironhide, who was still impatiently revving his engine and honking his horn. Ellie suddenly had the rather amusing thought of Ratchet going at a snails pace just to piss off the Weapons Specialist. Actually, considering Ironhide still needed his examination, she really wouldn't put it past the Medic.

"Hey, is that it?"

Ellie unbuckled, crawling halfway out of the cab so she could sit on the window ledge and get a better look of the ship.

At least, she thought it was a ship. It was a little hard to tell considering that she hadn't actually seen an alien spaceship before other than on television, and the myths so often proved to be provocative and crazy that she snorted at the mere thought of them even beginning to come close to looking like the real deal. Whatever that may be, anyway.

"Sweet." she breathed, ignoring Will's attempts at dragging her back into the cab. She wasn't going to fall, and the wind felt nice. Therefore, she was staying here on her now claimed perch as they grew closer to the ship. She wondered how many Autobots there were exactly. Sure, she'd heard that there was a large group, but no one had actually specified the amount of reinforcements that were coming.

As Ellie was thinking about this, two things happened almost at the exact same time.

There was a flash of gold and a blurr of silver colliding, and then there was a loud explosion nearly right in front of them.

Stunned, Ellie didn't really know what to do, and allowed herself to be pulled along out of Optimus, only to be picked up yet again by Ratchet and tucked away in between his shoulder and neck plating.

"SUNNY!"

"SIDES! DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

_"FLAREUPPPPP!"_

"I COULDN'T HELP MYSELF!"

"WHY I OUGHT TO-!"

"CHROMIA!"

"IRONHIDE!"

"OPTIMUS!?"

Mingled yells and exclamations were suddenly ringing through the air, and Ellie blinked. Either she was seing things, but there were two pink femmes, two blue femmes, and an orange femme, along with a gold mech that had to be Sunstreaker currently latched onto Sideswipe.

"What's going on?" she whispered into Ratchet's audial.

"Spark-mates." the Medic replied like the word was poison.

"RATCHET!"

"Slag."

Ellie braced herself. Not a second later, one of the pink femmes had slammed into him and was babbling away about something or other that she supposed was important, but she couldn't understand a word of it, considering that it was in Cybertronian.

Ratchet replied something back, and the femme backed off, optics wide as she honed in on Ellie. Sheepishly, she raised a hand and waved, yelping as she suddenly found herself in another pair of servos that weren't quite as friendly as Ratchet's or Prime's.

"HEY! I'M DELICATE! TRY NOT TO SQUISH ME!" she screeched.

The femme blinked down at her for a moment before turning and gesturing over the darker blue femme, clicking something in Cybertronian as she did so. Out of the corner of her eye, Ellie could see Ratchet smirking. Growling, she flipped him the bird. Asshole. Leaving her to the mercy of Autobots she didn't even know the names of. That was it. She was _so _keeping the wrench she'd borrowed from him.

The blue femme had to have noticed that she was turning colors that humans shouldn't be turning, because Ellie found herself transferred over to a pair of much more gentle servos that cradled her rather than held her. And then she found herself being lifted up to optic height, to which she found herself being studied like something under a microscope. And damnit, she did not like it!

"Ratcheeeeeet..." she whined, sending a pleading look over to said mech. This was not in her comfort zone, and yet he'd let them take her! The injustice of it all was nearly enough to make her cry. Just because she was getting more comfortable around the 'bots on base didn't mean that she was about to be instantly comfortable about the new arrivals, for God's sake!

"Glyph, please return Elina to Ratchet." Optimus came to the rescue, looking over from where he was standing with a pink armored femme. The way they were acting, Ellie could only assume that they were close- hold on. Was Optimus _married_?

She was broken from that thought when Ratchet took her back from the femme, depositing her back on his shoulder.

"I hate you." she hissed.

"My apologies for making you uncomfortable, organic femme." the dark blue femme inclined her helm. "My designation is Glyph."

"Nice to meet you?" Ellie returned, unsure of what to think of the cultured tone.

"Wow, English is a weird language. Hey, the name's Arcee!" the pink femme who had initially grabbed her smiled. "Never seen an organic species quite like you before!"

"Arcee, behave. You'll scare her." a softer voice commanded. Ellie instantly looked at the other pink femme, who had a soft smile directed in her direction before narrowing her optics at her pink armored companion.

"Yes, ma'am." Arcee sulked.

"That over there's Flareup, and Chromia's- HEY! CAN'T YOU TWO WAIT UNTIL YOU GET BACK TO BERTH!?"

Ellie didn't need to look over to take a guess at what Ironhide and Chromia were up to. She and Leon had been in college, after all. It really wasn't anything new.

"My designation is Elita-One." the pink femme finally introduced herself. "Optimus' spark-mate."

"Nice to meet you." Ellie replied automatically. She was still a little hung up on the fact that Optimus _and _Ironhide were _married_. Sure, she could have expected or predicted it, but it was a whole other situation when it turned out that it was actually a fact.

"I believe that our stories can wait until we get back to base. Autobots, roll out."


	25. Stories, Airvents and Chevrolets

_Where we love is home- home that our feet may leave, _

_but not our hearts. _

_-Oliver Wendell Holmes_

-;-

Unfortunately, Ellie and Will were very nicely asked to 'get out of the hangar so the big bots could have their grown-up talk' when they arrived back on base. However, the mocha skinned woman wasn't one that was about to give up.

There were still a couple of men hiding up in the vents, still managing to avoid their examinations, and now was the perfect time to use that as an excuse should she get caught.

Grabbing her newly claimed wrench, she tucked it into her jeans belt and pulled on her gloves before double checking the cuts on her arms. They were healing rather nicely, all things considered, and the one that had been on her palm was just another freshly healed scar.

That all done, she grinned to herself, hauling herself up into the vent above her bed.

These guys made it too easy.

-;-

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker stood together over against the wall, their shoulders touching in a silent form of communication. Neither of them had really expected to see the other, and now that they were reunited, Ratchet was already getting a bad feeling running through his spinal strut. Those two had always managed to be bad news around base back on Cybertron, and he had a feeling that it wouldn't be much different here.

Optimus and Elita-One were cuddling next to Ironhide and Chromia, while Flareup and Arcee were nearby mock gagging at the sights that Chromia and the Weapons Specialist were giving them.

Jolt, Ratchet, Prowl and Glyph were all lined up against the last wall, and other than initial greetings, nothing had been said. In fact, it was seeming more and more likely that this was the most that was going to happen during this little get together.

Just as Flareup opened her mouth, there was a horrific banging from above, followed by a very loud yelp of pain.

_"I warned you not to run, and what did you do? You ran!" _an irate voice growled from the airvent that ran along the edges of the room. _"Now where'd the other one go.." _

All optics turned to Optimus, who vented heavily. "The organic femme that you all saw earlier." he said in explanation. "She is the CMO for the human side of the base, and currently, the examinations are occurring. The soldiers thought that it would be a wise idea to hide in the airvents in order to escape her."

-;-

Ellie swore as she bashed her head against the top of the vent, narrowing her eyes as she spotted the other soldier she was hunting down. His partner had been felled with a 'love tap' with her wrench, and was left behind so that she could use both hands to catch the other.

"I know you're here.." she hissed, turning the corner. She perked up at the sound of shuffling, and she fell silent for a moment, trying to figure out exactly where the sound had come from.

Several seconds later, she realized that there was a smaller tunnel that branched off, and she smirked. So that was where he had decided to hide. No matter. She had him right where she wanted him. Creeping along, she feigned ignorance, muttering about how when she caught him he was going to be given more than a love tap with her wrench.

And then she struck.

Leaping into the smaller tunnel, she bowled over the other soldier, smacking the back of his head with her wrench. The problem was, of course, was that there just so happened to be one of the openings below the soldier that she didn't see, and it gave under the combined weight.

With a screech, she was sent toppling through the vent and into a startled looking Jolt's hand, along with the other soldier.

"Owwwww.." she moaned, rubbing her hip. "That hurt. And nice catch, Jolt."

"Elina..might I ask what you were doing in the ventilation shafts?" Ratchet vented. The mocha skinned woman flashed him a deadpan look before looking rather pointedly at the motionless soldier beside her.

"I thought it was pretty obvious, but I was hunting down the last two soldiers on my list." she shrugged before taking in just how many optics were currently resting on her. Sheepishly, she hunched her shoulders and brought her hand up in a tentative wave.

Flareup was the first to break the silence with a high peal of laughter, quickly followed by Arcee.

"I like you, femme." Flareup chirped, moving closer to get a better look at the organic. "I don't think too many mechs or femmes can get away with talking to the Hatchet like that without getting a wrench to the helm."

Without missing a beat, Ratchet subspaced a wrench and brought it down on Flareup's helm, earning a surprised yelp, which set off Chromia and Ironhide. Even Elita and Optimus cracked smiles at the sight. Ellie blinked, wondering what kind of joke she was missing, before shaking her head and starting to haul the soldier upright by the armpits.

"Jolt, can you possibly raise me back up so I can go get the other one?" she asked nicely, ignoring the optics boring into her back. Damn her and her tendancies to twitch around the Autobots. "I really don't feel like having to drag them all the way back to the Med Bay through the tunnels."

Jolt looked over at Ratchet for a moment, and Ellie waited impatiently for the two to get over whatever discussion that they were currently having.

"Very well." Ratchet finally gave, reaching up casually and simply ripping the vent from the ceiling. Startled yelps from Sunstreaker and Sideswipe rang out as debris came down with it, and Ellie ducked for cover under Jolt's fingers as a larger piece of debris came dangerously close to the mechs palm.

"Was that really necessary, Ratchet?" Optimus scolded lightly once everyone had finished coughing and waving away the dust that had come down with the vent.

"She," Ratchet grumbled with a gesture in Ellie's direction, "Is not going back up into those vents until the rest of her injuries are healed."

Indignantly, Ellie opened up her mouth to say something, but was quickly cut off by a stern look from the Medic. "Your forearms still need time to heal, and all of this scurrying around like a glitchmouse isn't going to get you anywhere."

"Fine." she muttered, crossing her arms with a huff. "I hope you didn't crush my soldier by killing the vent."

"The soldier is just fine." Ratchet retorted, opening his palm to reveal the unconscious man. "And I suggest you get moving before any other catastrophe hits."

"Yeah, yeah." Ellie rolled her eyes, waiting until Jolt had placed her on the ground before grabbing his ankle and dragging him over to Ratchet's pede, where she waited for the other soldier. As soon as his top half touched the ground, Ellie's other hand snapped around his ankle like a vice. That done, she started dragging both over to the door,

continuing to mutter under her breath.

After the doors closed behind her, all of the 'bots who had known the woman since she'd arrived shared a knowing look.

She'd be back soon enough.

-;-

Skidz and Mudflap waited for the perfect opportunity to snatch the orangic femme who had dared to step on their hoods and insult them. They needed to take drastic measures in making sure that the femme knew what her place was, and they were going to make sure she learned it, alright.

The two small mechs waited just around the corner from the organic Med Bay, knowing that the femme had gone out searching for the other soldiers who had managed to escape her clutches during the examinations. Internally, they shuddered, knowing exactly what kind of punishments were going to be in store for them. After all, they'd been witness to Ironhide's own inevitable punishments after Ratchet managed to hunt him down, and it _wasn't _pretty. Not one bit.

So, they had been spending the last several days hidden away from the world, only coming out when Ratchet had come looking for them for their own examinations, before going right back to it.

And they were sure that this time their plan wouldn't fail. After all, considering that they'd stolen all the femme's 'clothes' and she had barely batted an eye, they needed to come up with something that she wouldn't be able to just brush off.

And so, they lay in wait.

-;-

"Told you I'd get you, didn't I.." Ellie snarked to herself as she went over the routine examination of the men. Luckily enough for them, the mocha skinned woman had been considerate enough to wait until they woke to get started, though she'd barricaded them into the Med Bay so they couldn't escape. "Told you I'd make you regret running, I did.."

Adam and Josh, the unfortunate souls who had the bad luck to get on their new CMO's bad side, gave each other nervous looks, but made no moves to get away. They's already felt the pain that her wrench could do first hand, and it was definitely not something that they would want to experience anytime in the near future.

"Alright, you're both good to go. Although Adam, I'd suggest getting that scar tissue more closely looked at by someone who can get you into physical therapy." Ellie hummed, pulling off her gloves and tossing them into the garbage can.

"Yes ma'am." Adam nodded along with Josh before going over to the doors and unbarricading them, one object at a time until they could worm their way through the doors.

As soon as the door was closed, Ellie sighed, slouching over. Honestly...when her father had said it was war, she understood. She really did. But she had a feeling that it wouldn't quite sink in until she was out on the warfront, trying to save someone's life. She could tell from Adam's wound that he had been in a serious accident sometime in the not quite so distant past, making the mocha skinned woman actually believe that it might have been during Mission City that he had recieved said injury.

Her heart went out to him and his family, whoever they were. Even though she didn't know a lot of the people on base, Ellie had quite a bit of respect for them, having the courage to go into battle with the Cybertronian foe. Something that they thought they had no chance of defeating, and yet...

She'd heard the story about Lennox taking down a Decepticon with nothing but a motorcycle and a heavy duty machine gun. After the fact, everyone laughed and teased Will about the event, but at the time, it had to be terrifying. Seeing something like that, so close to you, knowing it could kill you but going after it anyway.

It brought to mind the images of Sideswipe and Ironhide while they were sparring. If they were enemies, they would have died a long time ago. The mocha skinned woman knew the kind of things that they were capable of now, having seen them spar alone. But she had a feeling that her views on them would change drastically the moment that she stepped foot onto the battlefield.

"I'm thinking too hard on this." she muttered to herself finally, shaking her head and pulling out the elastic from her hair, allowing the thick strands to curl around her face. Tucking the elastic onto her wrist, she hummed to herself as she pulled on her fingerless biking gloves and double checked that nothing was out of place before leaving the Med Bay.

She was hardly aware that two certain Chevys were following her closely down the hall, waiting for their chance to strike.

-;-

Eventually, the Autobots did end up telling what events had led them to Earth, told in parts by Chromia, Flareup and Elita. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were too immersed in their own thoughts, strengthening their bond once more by the close proximity they now found themselves in. Arcee had fallen into a light recharge against Jolt's leg, while Glyph was speaking to Prowl quietly about some sort of calculation that only someone like the SIC could understand.

Sunstreaker had been assigned to Glyph for one of her digs through Helix after the Decepticons had destroyed the city, and the poor femme had nearly purged her tanks after just seeing the wreckages that had been left behind. The once lively city had been brought to its knees, buildings crumbling and fires from cannonfire still flickering brightly.

Of course, this was just before all Pit had broken out in Iacon, so the pair hadn't been witness to the horrible battle that had occurred while they had been on their mission. But when they returned, all they had managed to find were swarms of Decepticons, all of them seeking the Allspark. They had taken shelter in one of the more desolate homes, and from there, they waited out the carnage. Sunstreaker had had to blow their cover in order to keep the scientist femme from offlining considering that she wasn't a warrior build, but that hadn't really been on their processors at the time.

Eventually, when everything had died down, Sunstreaker had gone in search of his twin, but there was nothing left of the Autobot base that had been there. However, there were several femmes who had had enough intelligence to take cover and wait it out, with some help from Flareup's pyrotech abilities, and they had all banded together.

"From there, we waited until there was enough of a cover so that we could get to the remaining ships." Chromia explained quietly. "We had to wait several orns; and then all of the slaggers just cleared out. Made no sense to us at the time, but we weren't about to argue."

"Chromia and I went ahead to see if we could save any of the ships that had been left." Flareup continued cheerily. "And luckily enough, there just so happened to be a neutral ship that only needed some tweaking with the engine, and it was ready to go after that!"

"Since then, we've been wandering the worlds, hoping to find you." Elita finished, looking up at her spark-mate. "And then we recieved your message."

"And now we're here!" Flareup finished with a bright grin.

"We are fortunate to have you." Optimus nodded solemnly. "With the loss of Jazz, we were afraid that our numbers would dwindle even further."

"Ah, don't worry, Prime!" Chromia snorted. "The big guns have arrived now, so there's nothing to worry about!"

"Somehow, that only makes me worry more." Ratchet muttered.

"Ah, who asked you!?"

-;-

Ellie woke to something splashing over her face.

Groggily, she shifted, only to freeze when she realized that the splashing she felt was water.

"What the...?" she hissed, spinning, paddling to keep herself upright. As far as she could see in all directions was water. Actually, when she squinted, she could see land, but that wasn't really the point.

"Those twins.." she growled when her memories came rushing back to her. She'd been walking along, completely innocent, and then those two snatched her up and locked her in their alt-modes before she could so much as squeak. Then, they'd literally thrown her into the ocean. Which probably explained why every inch of her hurt like a _sonofabitch_.

"When I get my hands on them, they're going to wish I was Ratchet." the mocha skinned woman snarled before starting to swim towards the land in the distance.


	26. The Usual Drama

_I look back on my life like a good day's work, _

_it was done and I am satisfied with it._

_-Grandma Moses_

-;-

Ellie wasn't entirely too sure how long she had been floating out in the ocean, lagoon, whatever the hell it was, but she did know that she was exhausted. Nothing she was doing seemed to be working, and now she was just drifting with the tide, hoping that the direction she was going was closer to land rather than away from it. Because that would be a little awkward to explain if she got washed out to sea and then get her body found by some poor fisherman or some other such thing.

"I'm gonna murder them." she mumbled for the hundredth time, imagining yet another way that she was going to take apart those damned twins and melt them down into tools for her Med Bay. Maybe she would share them with Ratchet if he asked nicely. "I'm gonna melt them down after I rip them apart and use them for spare parts."

Yeah. Right after she got back to land.

-;-

Unknown to Ellie, she had actually been gone for the night, and was on day two of her miniature swimming trip.

Now, if Ellie had been anyone else on base, it might not have been such a concern. But the mocha skinned woman usually got up and went straight for the coffee. That hadn't happened. Secondly, Epps and Will both knew that Ellie had planned a web-cam chat with Leon, and there was no sign of the woman as the clock continued moving forward.

"Has anyone seen Ellie today?" Will asked several soldiers passing by. All of them shook their heads, grimaces making their way onto their faces. The mocha skinned woman hadn't exactly been pleasant during the examinations, after all. Sure, she was good at what she did, but holy hell, did she not take any prisoners. She was completely and utterly merciless when it came down to it, and she made sure that everyone knew it.

"Strange." the male said to himself before continuing on to Ratchet's Med Bay. Maybe the other Medic had seen her.

But after a very short talk with the Autobot CMO, (who had been in the middle of checking on the femmes and Sunstreaker's health) it turned out that he hadn't seen her either.

At this point, Epps was really beginning to get suspicious. Skidz and Mudflap had been following he and Will around the entire time that they had been looking for Ellie. Which, in his opinion, meant that they knew something. And that train of thought then led him to recall the last incident that had involved the tiny twins and his niece.

This couldn't be good.

-;-

**:: Yo bro, you don' think dat theys figured it out, do ya? ::-Mudflap**

**:: Course dey hasn't. Dey ain't dat bright, yo. ::-Skidz**

**:: Well dat dere Epps man is lookin' right at us, bro. ::-Mudflap**

Skidz realized that for once, his twin actually had a point. The femme's 'uncle' had in fact been looking at them oddly for the last several minutes. And that meant that something was up.

**:: Shit bro, you right. What we gonna do, bro? ::-Mudflap**

**:: Run? ::**

**:: Agreed, bro. ::-Mudflap**

As subtly as the tiny twins possibly could, they backed up slowly around the corner before revving their engines and taking off down the hall, hoping that Prowl was out and about. It would really screw up their 'master plans'.

-;-

Eventually, the warm temperature of the water had cooled as the sun set, and Ellie was now beginning to shiver. Not good for anyone to be in the water this long. Especially without proper food and water to keep hydrated. The good news was, however, that the landmass in the distance had been gradually getting closer for the better portion of the day.

That didn't mean that her sunburn or her parched throat were going to go away so easily. And the saltwater was definitely past the point that it made her cringe.

Taking a deep breath, the mocha skinned woman began swimming again in the general direction of land, hoping that it wouldn't be much longer that she would be stuck out here. Otherwise, she might just be a body washing up on shore. And that would _really _be difficult to explain to her father.

Wearily, Ellie turned so that she was floating on her back, her chest heaving. What she wouldn't give to be snuggled up next to Leon in their comfortable king sized bed back in San Francisco right now.

If she had to guess, she would say that it was about nine or so, and with the fourteen hour time difference, give or take...it was about ten or eleven in the morning. Meaning that Leon would still be conked out in bed, considering that it was a Saturday there. Or was it...eh. She couldn't really give a damn at the moment what day it was. All that mattered was making sure that she didn't fall asleep. Because then bad things would happen.

But hell, she wanted to be snuggled up next to Leon in bed...

-;-

Leon, as it turned out, was still conked out in bed at ten in the morning. Hard to tell though, considering that the only sign that the brunette was even there was the fact that the mound of blankets was _breathing_.

In fact, the brunette was so sound asleep that she didn't even hear the footsteps coming up the stairs or the door opening.

"Leon.."

No movement. Alex sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. God, this woman was horrible.

"Leon. Get up."

Again, nothing.

"I _knew _there was a reason she made me get up to get her out of bed.." he muttered to himself. "And I knew there was a reason she gave me a key now, too."

Bracing himself for the lashing of words he knew was to come, the male took a deep breath.

_"LEON! GET YOUR ASS OUT OF BED!" _

"Whatever it was I didn't do it!" said woman bolted upright, narrowly missing Alex's face as she did so. Blinking, she noticed him and then blinked again.

"Alex? When did you get here?"

-;-

By now, Will and Epps had decided that it would be a wise idea to approach Optimus about Ellie's disappearance and their suspicions of which two certain twins did it. The only problem was that the Prime was currently out on the late night patrol with Sideswipe.

Meaning that they had to find somebot else to go to.

And rather than go to Prowl, which, funnily enough, would have been the logical choice, the two men went to seek out Ratchet.

The mech, as usual, was holed up in his Med Bay with Jolt, and the two were going over a couple of data pads when the two men entered.

"Ratchet...we have a problem."

-;-

_"THEY WHAT!?"_

Skidz and Mudflap could hear the outraged howls of the Medic from all the way across the base.

"Uh, bro..?" Mudflap offered tentatively, "I think dat the Hatchet knows about the femme."

"I think so too, bro." Skidz shivered, optics wide as he searched for the nearest escape route. Knowing the CMO, he had already stormed out of the Med Bay and was hot on their heels. Meaning that they were very quickly going to be in a lot of pain.

"Run?"

"Run."

Transforming down, the Chevy Beat and Trax tore off down the hall, an angry Ratchet close behind as he swerved around a corner, lights and sirens blaring. Not far behind Ratchet came Prowl, his own headlights flaring brightly in the hallway as the two mechs chased after the twins.

The tiny twins didn't stand a chance.

-;-

Ellie was fairly certain that the stars were actually tiny little rainbow swans flapping up in the universe at this point. Humming a silly tune to herself, the mocha skinned woman splashed lightly around, not particularly caring anymore where the current was taking her.

Blinking, she still stubbornly refused to fall asleep, even though she was exhausted. Her mind wasn't that far gone in her hallucinations. Had she been inhaling something in the water? Was that why she was hallucinating?

Nah. The tiny swans in the night sky were always there. She only just noticed that they were swans instead of stars. But if they were swans, how did they breathe? Or were they like Cybertronians in that way that they didn't actually need oxygen?

All of this thinking was making her head hurt.

_"Hey! I think I see her!"_

Great. Now she was imagining voices. What next?

_"Ellie!"_

Hey...that one sounded a lot like her uncle!

Frowning, Ellie turned her head as a sudden light shone onto her face. It hurt her eyes, damnit!

_"Oh thank God!" _

Before she knew what was happening, hands were pulling her up out of the water and into something that was almost as cold as the water.

"Jesus, she's freezing! Fig, grab that blanket!" she heard someone say. Ellie didn't quite know who it was, considering that she could barely hear herself think over the sound of her teeth chattering. Huh. When had that started up?

"Everyone get back. Give her some space for a moment." another rather familiar voice snapped before another bright light shone into her eyes. Instinctively, she hissed, flinching away from the light. What part of the light _hurting her eyes_ did these morons not understand?

"She's dehydrated and-"

Ahh...it was Ratchet. That was why she recognized his voice. But why did he sound so.._small_. Actually, who cared? She was tired, and someone had draped a blanket over her shoulders. Even though it stung because of her sunburn, the warmth was pleasant, and there were all of these nice warm bodies around her, too.

Shuffling blindly, she curled up next to the closest warm thing she could find and promptly passed out, ignoring the yell of protest from whoever she was curled up against. They could suck it up for all she cared.


	27. Waking up in 'Vegas'

_Wonder rather than doubt is the root of all knowledge._

_-Abraham Joshua Heschel_

-;-

Ellie came to with the unpleasant feeling of an IV in her arm and a heavy warmth that wasn't quite a blanket but just as nice.

Mumbling to herself, she curled into whatever the warmth was, wanting to yank out the IV but being too lazy to do so.

"Elina..." came a rather close growl. "You've caused enough mischief. Get up."

"No." she murmured, nuzzling into the metal palm that was holdi-

Wait. Metal palm holding her?

She bolted upright, barely flinching at the pounding ache that her head was screaming at her not to aggravate and staring into the unamused optics of none other than Ratchet. Besides the fact that he looked so unamused, she supposed that she would have found the look he was giving her amusing if her head wasn't hurting her so freaking much.

"What-" she began, only to be shushed by a harsher look from Ratchet.

"You were very close to offlining yourself, Elina Epps." Ratchet snapped curtly.

"But-"

"Don't you start with me, femme."

Ellie blinked in confusion. Why was Ratchet acting like this was all her fault?

"It wasn't my fault that those stupid fucking twins threw me out in the middle of the fucking ocean!" she protested before the irate Medic could tear into her yet again. Damnit, she was too drugged for this kind of crap! "What did you think I did, go out for a midnight swim?"

"It definitely crossed my mind." Ratchet snapped back before venting heavily, rubbing the metal that made up his nose. "My apologies. I should not have taken out my frustrations on you."

Ellie blinked for several moments before shrugging. As far as she was concerned, she was doing pretty good. Although that could have just been the drugs talking. Actually, it probably was the drugs talking. She wasn't usually this easygoing about a bipolar Ratchet.

"Is it Sideswipe and his brother?" she guessed.

Ratchet opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, and then simply settled for a short nod.

"Those two fraggers haven't let me have a single moment of peace yet, and Sunstreaker still needs to have an optic kept on him. The bond between himself and Sideswipe was extremely strained before they made contact." The Medic began muttering, mostly to himself. Ellie simply pretended that she knew exactly what was going on and nodded along with the words.

"So…where are the smaller set of twins? I'd love to have a chat with them. With supervision, of course." The mocha skinned woman asked innocently.

"Hiding, if they know what's good for them." The other Medic muttered darkly. "And you'll have to get in line. Their own Medic would like to have a word with them before anyone else does."

"Damn. Can I at least melt down the parts that are leftover for a new set of beds?"

"Now that, I may be able to arrange." Ratchet said thoughtfully.

-;-

Leon woke to find herself lying next to a sleeping Alex.

"Shit." She sighed to herself, even as the first waves of her hangover struck. "I knew I shouldn't have had that much to drink."

It wasn't exactly an uncommon occurrence for the brunette to find herself in bed whenever she went to a public gathering; she usually had more to drink than she should, hooked up with the nearest person, whether it be male or female, and end up waking up next to them the next day wondering how the hell she'd gotten there. But those times, she barely knew the people.

So the fact that she'd woken up next to Alex spoke volumes despite the fact that she knew these were her thoughts and not actually being spoken.

"Ellie's going to be way too pleased about this when she hears."

"Hm?"

Alex groaned, shifting in his sleep, wrapping an arm around Leon and tugging her very naked body closer to him. Leon stiffened against the contact, wondering if taking something heavy to his head and then running would work, but decided against it. It wouldn't end well for anyone in the long run, considering that Alex owned the damn shop she worked at.

So really, she was stuck, well, between the eternal rock and hard place.

And was she ever stuck good.

-;-

Something Ellie was not expecting during her stay in Ratchet's Med Bay was visits from most of the Autobots, excluding Skidz, Mudflap, and Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. The former pair of twins were still hiding from most of the senior members of the Autobot team, while the latter pair of twins were still out and continuing to strengthen their formerly strained twin bond. Ellie couldn't blame Sideswipe for wanting to spend time with his family; after all, she would probably do the same thing in her position.

No, it was the fact that it was Prowl and the femmes who came to see her most that intrigued her. She barely knew them, and yet every day, Prowl would show up absurdly early for several minutes and share at most four sentences with her before disappearing again, while the femmes would come in the late afternoon and gossip with her until Ratchet grew tired of so many higher pitched voices going at once.

It turned out that yes, Chromia and Ironhide were sparkbonded, while Elita and Optimus were also sparkbonded. Something that Flareup was wont to tease Chromia about, for whatever reason, while Glyph would remain the neutral party with Ellie.

At first glance, Glyph was as reserved as Prowl, but she was actually just not used to interacting with others. Having been a scientist, she was almost always somewhere studying something on her own, with a bodyguard that was there only for her protection. Because of this, well, the femme was a little awkward at first around the mocha skinned woman. In fact, all of them were. Other than Prowl, because no one really knew what Prowl was thinking. But they all warmed up to her soon enough. Whether it was because the news of what she'd done when Prowl landed on earth or not, she wasn't sure, but she was already becoming close with both Flareup and Arcee. The two femmes were just so out of the norm and reminded her very closely of Leon when in close proximity.

That being the basis theory, Ellie was content to just sit back and watch the show with the lovely things she called drugs. Everything was so much more entertaining that way. But at the same time, she wanted to get out and back to work. She was unused to being the one treated, and around Diego Garcia, it seemed that it was happening more and more often than not.

"Elina?" Glyph asked, seeing that the woman was immersed in her thoughts. "Is something the matter?"

Ellie blinked before looking up at Glyph and shooting her a hazy smile. "No, nothing's wrong. I'm just thinking about how I'm a Medic and yet around here I end up in Ratchet's Med Bay more often than not."

"Really?" Flareup tilted her helm to one side. "And you're not scared?"

"Do I have reason to be?"

Flareup mused on that thought for several moments, Elita and Chromia looking mildly amused at the expression their fellow femme was wearing on her faceplates.

"Even though Ratchet is intimidating, he only wants what's best for his patients." Ellie prodded. "All he does is make sure that none of you misbehave in his Med Bay and maybe add a couple more dents from time to time."

"And you'd know, wouldn't you?"

"Hi Ratchet." Ellie smiled innocently, looking up into the vaguely unamused Medic's optics. "How are you this wonderful day?"

"It would be better without all of these femmes in my Med Bay." The green mech growled, sending a pointed look towards Arcee and Flareup, which was carefully ignored. "Besides, there's a group of people here to see you."

"Really?" she couldn't help the impish grin that crossed her face. "Does that mean I get my very own party in Ratchet's Med Bay?"

…Wow. She had to either be on drugs or to be completely stupid to- oh, wait. She was on drugs. That explained her idiotic tendencies at the moment. Actually, explained a lot of things at the moment. Why she was so comfortable with so many Autobots around, why she wasn't flinching whenever Arcee found it necessary to poke her and see how squishy she was…

Yeah, drugs explained a lot of the things she did at the moment.

"No. And Elita, in the most generous way possible…Get out of my Med Bay."

"Of course, Ratchet." Elita smiled softly, standing. "We'll leave Elina to her new visitors and rest."

"In my Med Bay, there's never rest."

The remaining femmes got to their own pedes and smiled and whispered varied conspiring thoughts to the mocha skinned woman as they made their way out the doors, revealing a larger group of smaller people.

"Hey Uncle Epps." She waved down at him from the berth she was situated upon.

"Ellie! My dearest niece!"

"…I'm your only niece, Uncle Epps."

-;-

Leon was still stuck.

It turned out that Alex was a very heavy sleeper, and a cuddler. A very irritating, nuzzling cuddler. One that she couldn't wake up or get out of a heavy arm around her stomach without possibly needing to break said arm.

This meant that Leon's mood was plummeting. If this guy ever woke up, she was going to give him a piece of her mind, and it wasn't going to be pretty.

"Fuck." She muttered as his grip tightened. She really had to pee, damnit! Was it too much to ask to go to bathroom?

Apparently, it was, as Alex's arm tightened further.

Leon was going to be committing murder when she finally got out of bed.


	28. Showdown

_Character develops itself in the stream of life._

_-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe_

-;-

Ratchet made sure to keep Ellie in the Med Bay for another week before he allowed her out on light duty. Now, Ellie knew quite well what the Medic meant by light duty, but she was also a woman on a mission. And once she found those damn twins, they were going to taste the full amount of wrath that a pissed off human woman could give off.

Muttering to herself, the mocha skinned woman turned a corner and blinked as a set of golden yellow pedes were suddenly presented to her. Glancing up, she was surprised to see Sunstreaker glaring down at her. After a moment, Sideswipe appeared, and following his twin's gaze, noted Ellie.

"Hey Ellie." He greeted with a light wave. "Aren't you supposed to be resting?"

"Coming from you, Sideswipe? Really?" Ellie retorted, raising a brow and crossing her arms. "Do you really want to go there with me right now?"

"Nah. Oh! Sunny, this is Ellie. She's the CMO for the organic side of operations."

"I don't care as long as it doesn't get under my pedes or scratch my paint." The yellow twin wrinkled his nose.

Now, right about then probably hadn't been the best time to catch Ellie and say those sorts of things to her. And the fact that she took offense to being called an it definitely wasn't going to help matters for Sunstreaker, either.

"Excuse me?" she asked, raising a brow. "Did I hear you correctly when you said 'it'? Because funnily enough, I could have sworn that I heard something along those lines just leave your glossa, aft hole."

Sideswipe's mouth opened in an 'o', obviously realizing that shit was about to go down, and it was about to go down on several levels of bad. Reaching out to Sunstreaker, he tried to reign in the other mech, who suddenly had developed a nasty twitch in one of his optics. But neither of the verbal combatants were about to stop now.

"What did you just say to me?" Sunstreaker snapped.

"Oh, you heard me, pretty boy." Ellie retorted. "I don't know about you, but if someone called you an 'it', I wouldn't be too amused either. In case you can't tell, I'm a femme. Actually, on Earth we call femmes _female_. Just so you know."

If this wasn't deteriorating so quickly, Sideswipe would have laughed at the expression on Sunstreaker's faceplates. It had been a very long time since anyone other than himself had talked so bluntly to his twin, and it was a little refreshing to see that it was Ellie of all people taking him down a couple pegs on the vanity ladder.

"I could squish you beneath my pede, squishy."

"Bring it on. Ratchet would take you apart for a new set of wrenches."

Sunstreaker snarled, raising his pede, but Ellie barely even flinched. If anything, she raised a brow further at his actions.

"Really? We're going to play the squish card? That might scare some people, but I'm not one of them. And I would love to see some of the reactions from everyone else if you actually did it."

"Watch me."

Ellie stared at what was seeming to be her impending doom, when the sudden sound of metallic footsteps echoed down the hall towards them. Sideswipe almost looked relieved, and the servo on his brother's shoulder was doing the trick as he herded the golden mech away from the human.

"Talk to you again soon, pretty boy." Ellie cooed tauntingly, giving him a cheery wave as they disappeared around a corner.

"Elina…dare I ask why Sideswipe commed me to tell me that you were in danger?"

Tilting her head back, the mocha skinned woman grinned sheepishly and uncrossed her arms. "Hey Boss." She greeted pleasantly, masking her sour mood with a smile. "I was just having a chat with the ever lovely Sunstreaker. What I wouldn't give to have him down to my height. I'd give him a physical piece of my mind instead of just a verbal take-down."

Optimus vented, rubbing the bridge of his nose and shaking his helm. Although it was slightly amusing to hear those words coming from the CMO's mouth, the fact was that she had done something extremely dangerous by confronting the frontliner.

"Elina, as much as I am sure it was amusing to you to speak with Sunstreaker, I must ask that you don't do it too often. He isn't as tied down by the Autobot code as you may think. He prefers to do things his own way, despite what others may think."

"Yeah, I got that when he tried to squish me." She deadpanned. "But hey. I live a dangerous life. If I'm going to die, I want to die knowing that I threw my two cents worth in."

Kneeling, the Prime offered the woman a servo to clamber up on, unable to hold back the brief chuckle that rumbled through his frame. "A good motto to stand by."

She shrugged. "Hey; it's the reason I'm partially ignoring Ratchet's orders of light duty."

"I wish whoever you find to spend your life with luck, then." The Peterbilt shook his helm again. "They're going to need it, what with your spirit."

"Thanks Boss, I'll be sure to pass it on." Ellie grinned cheerily, patting the mechs thumb as he rose. "Now, I have a cup of coffee that's got my name on it, and I need it as soon as possible, if you don't mind."

-;-

Leon sighed, toying with the loose screws scattered around her for several moments before getting back to work on the currently engineless jeep she was tasked with putting back together again.

Work had been…awkward, to say the least after the night of the party. Sure, Alex was perfectly fine with having a one night stand, but then again, he wasn't the employee. Leon had been unable to work properly for a couple of days now, and it was seriously beginning to drive her nuts.

The man in question was acting as if nothing had happened, and Leon was somehow torn because of that. She wasn't sure what kind of reaction she'd been expecting. Maybe..?

"Ugh." She groaned, letting her head fall onto the table.

"Something the matter?"

_Yeah. _She thought sourly. _I got drunk and you took me home._

But there was no way that she'd say something like that to his face. She wasn't suicidal. She needed this job, and besides, there weren't any other mechanics in town that she would be able to work for. No one was hiring. In fact, business was slowing for everyone around San Francisco; all over the place, in fact. Economy was plummeting, as it was wont to do, and as usual, Leon could probably count on one hand the businesses that wouldn't end up going bankrupt because of it.

"No, I'm fine. Just tired." She assured, plastering a false grin on her face and hoping he'd buy it. "And this engine is totally not willing to cooperate with me."

"Ah. Just call if you need anything, then."

"Mhm."

_Like Hell. _

God, she was tearing herself up over this. She needed to have a good long conversation with Ellie soon, or she was really going to be admitted to the loony bin.

Speaking of which…the brunette hadn't heard anything from her best friend in a while…

Leon silently hoped that Ellie was alright and just busy instead of the alternatives that she was picturing. The images that came to mind were spawned from horror movies and fiction, and they were surprisingly detailed despite the fact she knew they weren't real.

Still. Getting into contact with Ellie was a priority. In fact, she'd do it as soon as she got home. Even though when she got home, the mocha skinned woman would probably just be getting up. She really needed her best friend's advice, and she needed it as soon as possible.

-;-

Ellie, on the other hand, was giggling as she ran into the lagoon, her shirt discarded behind her as she dove in.

Fig and Eliza had collaborated and decided that it would be a good idea to drag out the soldiers to the lagoon for an afternoon of lazing, and had cornered Will in order to intimidate him into cooperating. And from Ellie's perspective, Eliza was probably there because Fig was in no way able to corner Will on his own. Sad, but it was very true. The Spanish man wasn't all that intimidating for the most part; he was more the comedy of the troops more than anything else.

Not that Ellie was complaining, of course.

The man wasn't all that much older than she was, either, only a couple of years at most. And he certainly was attractive, considering all of his scars and the like from a mission in Qatar a couple of years ago.

She surfaced, tossing her hair out of her eyes, and eyed the beach, seeing her uncle and Will settled underneath one of the many palm trees already, sipping water and chatting with smiles on their faces. It was a little odd at how easily they could settle in, but she wasn't really all that worried. It was one of their quirks that made them them.

But there was one person in particular that she was looking for, and she did eventually find him. But why was he talking to Ironhide…?

Better question; why was Ironhide looking in her direction? And why was he suddenly raising one of his cannons-

Fuck.

Ellie's eyes wide, she dove, just as the blast landed a couple of yards behind her. She felt the current overhead pushing her towards shore, but she remained under the water for as long as she could before surfacing again to flip the two the bird.

Ironhide was laughing heartily, and so was Chromia as she snuck up on her sparkmate. With an absolutely vicious grin, she tackled the mech, causing him to faceplant into the water with a muffled yelp. And that was reason for everyone to crack up, the mocha skinned woman included.

The two tussled for several moments before Chromia was once again victor, and this time, Ironhide stayed down. But the both of them were smiling, so there wasn't much reason to worry.

Unless, of course, she counted the look on Eliza's face as she waded into the surf, closely followed by Lex.

It was then that she realized she didn't stand a chance in hell.


	29. Sore Spots

_Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn't know you left open._

_-John Barrymore_

-;-

"So, let me get this straight. You want me," Ellie gestured to herself vaguely, "To be a _field medic_?"

"Correct." Ratchet nodded, crossing his arms. "The benefits have been weighed against the risks, and it has been agreed that as long as you are protected by an Autobot in the field, you would do well at it."

The mocha skinned woman continued to gape at the CMO. "You want me to be a field medic?" she repeated, voice raising several octaves.

"I believe that I have made that quite clear, Elina."

"I'm not field medic material, Ratchet."

"I believe that you are. You simply need the training."

"In _what_?"

"You will need to be able to defend yourself." Came the calm reply.

Ellie was still trying to make sense of what was going on around her. Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she blew a couple strands of hair out of her eyes and shot a glare at the mech.

"Is that why Lex and Eliza cornered me the other day at the lagoon?"

"Perhaps."

"Ugh. Ratchet, I'm not convinced that this is one of the best ideas I've ever heard. Yes, I get that there's a war, but I'm not someone suited to actually be out there in it! Just because I come from a military background doesn't mean anything, so don't even mention it."

"Elina-"

"Don't you Elina me, Ratchet. From a Medic to a Medic, please try to see where I'm coming from. I'm just not made for war. I can fix them up, but I can't see them get hurt. It will kill me to see it."

"And yet you'll be seeing their bodies in the end."

The sudden stiffness in the woman's shoulders alerted Ratchet that he had struck a nerve with his last comment, and without another word, Ellie turned on her heel and exited the room. The sound of the door closing was the only sound for several moments before the green mech vented and took a seat at his desk, Jolt poking his head out from the back cautiously.

"Is everything alright?" the blue mech asked carefully, setting a worn data-pad down on a berth and venturing closer.

"I've done something stupid." The elder grunted, letting his helm hit the desk.

Jolt shuttered his optics, wondering if he'd heard the other Medic correctly. Had he just admitted that he'd done something stupid of his own free will? Or was it just him?

"If it's alright with you, sir, may I ask what?"

Ratchet snorted, barely even flinching at the question. "I made a comment regarding bodies, and I've only just remembered from her file that her femme creator died in action."

Oh.

"Uh.."

"Just say it, Jolt."

"That was a little harsh, don't you think?"

"Yes, it was."

Jolt decided that given the mood his mentor was no doubt going to be in for the rest of the day, he was going to take his leave and go and check in on Ironhide. The mech had been complaining of pain in his shin strut for the last week, but continued to elude Ratchet. His mission, now that he had chosen to accept it, would be to get Chromia to help him get it fixed before it turned into a real problem that would eventually lead to Ratchet doing surgery. Which Jolt knew Ironhide wouldn't allow. Even if it meant that his sparkmate was pissed at him for Primus knew how long.

Backing away slowly, Jolt made sure to grab his data-pad and subspace it, along with checking that he had everything that he could possibly need when it came to dealing with Ironhide.

"I'll be back in a while." He said to no one in particular before taking his leave, closing the Med Bay door softly behind him.

**::Chromia, I have a question for you…:: -Jolt**

-;-

"_Hey Ellie!"_

Ellie couldn't help but smile at the excitement she could hear in Leon's voice, and she laughed as she heard the tell-tale sound of the brunette falling off a chair.

"Hey Leon."

"_Owwww…stupid son of a pickle no good rotten piece of dusty shit!" _

"Nice to hear you too."

"_Sorry..but I've really been needing to hear from you."_

The mocha skinned woman frowned at the sudden change in tone. "Is something wrong, Leon?"

"_Now that is an understatement. You know that party with all the staff and crap? Well, Alex and I ended up sleeping together. As in sleeping together."_

"So, you got drunk, he took advantage of that and took you home?" Ellie summarized.

"_At the time I'm sure I was all for it, but looking back on it I want to shoot myself." _Leon groaned. _"I mean, yeah, I wanted to have sex with the guy, but I wanted to be in a relationship, not a one night stand! Now I don't even know what to think about all this."_

"Well, do you still have feelings for him?"

"_I'm fairly certain any and all feelings disappeared when I had to pee and he had an arm like a fucking handcuff around my stomach." _

"So…no."

"_Why is this centered around me? I want to know what's new with you!" _

"Well.."

"_Uh oh. I know that tone. What happened, Ellie?"_

"Well…apparently I'm going to be a field medic, and everyone's trying to convince me to do it, and the other Medic mentioned how I'm going to end up seeing their bodies anyway, and I kind of stormed out on him." Ellie blurted. "And I know I'm not cut out to be a field medic. For crying out loud, I barely manage you. How am I supposed to deal with all of these people around me dying?"

"_Oh, Ellie. Was it because of what happened with your mom?" _

The mocha skinned woman blinked, suddenly realizing that there were tears in her eyes from the comfort that Leon was projecting over the phone. She wanted nothing more than to have her best friend back over in Diego Garcia so that she could have a piece of home with her, but even she knew that even though it had happened once, it wasn't going to happen again.

"Yeah."

"_Well, you know my number, and you know I'm always here for you, even if you wake me up in the middle of the night for no apparent reason." _

"I know." Ellie murmured, wiping at her eyes. "Thanks, Leo."

"_No problem, hon." _

"Well, I should probably go before someone decides that I actually need to be working. I'll try to call you again soon, okay?"

"_Not too long this time, please, my lovely mocha." _

"I'll try. Love you."

"_Love you too. Bye." _

There were no good-byes. They had never really been ones to say it before they hung up. All they needed to know was that there was still that bond between the two of them that had never quite flickered out after their three year relationship. And they hadn't ended it because they didn't like it; they had both agreed that they would still be in that sort of relationship if they ever decided again, but for the moment they were going to remain sisters of sorts.

Sighing, Ellie pocketed her phone, unwilling to dwell on their conversation for too long. It would only make her want to go home more, even though she knew that if that happened now, she would regret it for the rest of her life. Despite all the oddities and aliens, Ellie was finding herself settling into this life that she had been offered.

It didn't mean that she had to enjoy Fig poking his head into her room, however.

"Fig, you'd better hope that you have a good reason for being in here again or you're going to find out what my personal brand of pain feels like."

"Ehh….I'm bored and I was wondering if you wanted to go through the obstacle course with me?" the Spanish man shrugged innocently.

"Done. Just let me change into my canvas pants and we can go." The mocha skinned woman hummed before forcibly moving the male out of her room and closing the door.

In the hall, Fig smirked to himself. Elina was something of a toy, amusement to him. But not because he was bored, oh no. The Spanish man, though as of late not having very much interaction with the mocha skinned woman due to his training, was beginning to feel a little different around her.

He could list all of the cheesy things he could say about how he felt around her, but he wouldn't. He wasn't even sure if she saw him in that sort of way. Then again, wouldn't it be a good idea to actually ask, to see if he even had a chance in hell?

"Alright, let's go. I need to burn off some energy." Ellie huffed as she opened the door, pulling her thick hair into a high ponytail. "And avoid Ratchet at all costs."

"May I ask why, _chica_?"

"Nope. Let's go, Tacobell."

"Is it really necessary to call me that?" Fig whined, falling into step beside the woman.

"Yep." Ellie smirked, punching the male lightly in the shoulder. "So I suggest you get used to it."

-;-

"Wow. These humans have extraordinary ways of creating obstacles." Glyph hummed as she watched the pair of humans running around the course. Her optics followed them closely, noting how Elina's run was far more relaxed than her companions, Fig, she believed his designation was. Then again, it was clear that Elina was not a soldier.

"Not that they could beat ours." Flareup snorted, glancing over at Chromia quickly. The other blue femme ignored the look, instead settling for watching the femme that had quickly connected with them.

"The femme is a martial artist."

"How do you know, 'Mia?" Flareup chirped, tilting her helm to one side, trying to puzzle out how the older femme had managed to figure that out.

"She reminds me of Prowl." Chromia replied shortly. "They have a similar gait."

"So…because they run alike it means that she's a martial artist?" Flareup asked. It wasn't hard to tell that her own words were confusing her; it was written all over her faceplates. "How does that make sense?"

"You wouldn't understand even if I told you."

"I might!"

"Whatever you say."

"What's going on over here?" a smooth voice asked.

Chromia barely even flicked an optic. "Watching the humans go through their obstacle course. What's it to you, Sunstreaker?"

"Is it Ellie?" Sideswipe asked, darting out from behind his brother to get a look. "Haven't seen her out here for a few weeks. I'm surprised she hasn't stopped yet."

"That squishy who didn't care if I squished her?" Sunstreaker snorted. "What's so special about her?"

"She's the first one we've really had much contact with." Glyph shrugged. "It's most logical that we would continue to interact with her."

"What do you mean, didn't care if you squished her?" Flareup narrowed her optics. "Sunny, did you try to offline her?"

"Yeah, he did." Sideswipe answered for his twin. "He overreacted because she actually had the nerve to talk back to him."

"Ohhh, Sunstreaker, would you actually risk your paintjob to squish one of the humans?" Flareup teased, tossing her helm back to let out a peal of laughter.

"For that one, I'd make an exception."

"Not advisable, like I said." Sideswipe shook his helm. "I already told you; she's related to the Second in Command. You'd be in a lot more slag than you'd think."

Sunstreaker said nothing, growling as he spun on his pede and stalked off, followed by a snickering Sideswipe. The femmes watched the twins go with slight amusement, Flareup stifling a giggle as she turned her attention back to the pair of humans.

"Hey! Where'd they go?"

"They're right behind that pyramid." Chromia vented, pointing out the noted piece of architecture. A moment later and Ellie emerged, laughing as she stumbled in the sand. Twisting, the mocha skinned woman landed on her back, seconds before Fig tripped over her.

The two lay there for several long moments, eyes wide as they realized that their lips had somehow managed to connect during the fall.

"Did they just…"

"Should we report this?"

"Report what?"

"Nothing!" the femmes whirled, concealing the two from sight as the familiar sound of Prowl's footsteps reached their audials.

"Just Sunny being Sunny." Chromia improvised. "He's threatening to squish the humans again."

"I see. I will have a word with him later." The SIC nodded, continuing on his way. However, none of the femmes quite relaxed until they were sure the mech was out of hearing range before they let out the vents they'd been a little too nervous to let go.

"That was close."

"No kidding."


	30. Lost the Argument

_Hope is the pillar that holds up the world. Hope is the dream of a waking man._

_-Pliny the Elder_

-;-

Eliza wasn't the SRT Captain for nothing. She had clawed her way up the military food chain to get to the Special Response Team, and she had gotten there because she was former FBI and her skills as a tactical commander.

So when Fig and Ellie walked by the cafeteria smiling and laughing, it didn't exactly take a genius to figure out what was going on.

Leaning over Marcus, she tapped Lex's shoulder and gestured vaguely over to the two. Lex's little face lit up like a kid at Christmas, and then she raised a brow questioningly.

"Really? I can actually-?" she cheered quietly, squirming in her seat. "You and Marcus never let me do it to you!"

"Go for it." Eliza smirked, leaning back in her seat to watch the action. Just because she was supposedly the mature one out of their group didn't mean that she was.

"MY MEXICAN LOVE SENSES ARE TINGLING!" the blond screeched, leaping onto the top of the table and gaining all of the attention of the members in the cafeteria. Dramatically, she squinted, one hand wielding off imaginary sunlight, and then honed in on Ellie and Fig, who were staring at the small woman with horror.

"AHA!" she cackled triumphantly. "YOU! I SENSE YOU!"

"Uh…what?" Ellie blinked, not noticing the intimidating figure of her uncle behind her until he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"HOLY SHIT!" she screamed, leaping onto the nearest possible person, who at the moment happened to be Fig. "HAVEN'T I TOLD YOU PEOPLE NOT TO SNEAK UP ON ME!?"

Epps blinked for several long moments, not entirely sure what had just happened, before trying to remember why he had come up behind his niece in the first place. She had a tendency to distract him from things that tended to actually have been important sometimes.

"Uh…Ellie…calm down." Fig coughed awkwardly, his face bright red as he hesitantly held the bristling mocha skinned woman in his arms. "Epps just tapped you on the shoulder."

"So?" Ellie narrowed her eyes at him threateningly, and her arms tightened painfully around the Spanish man's neck. "You got a problem with me being twitchy?"

"No." he answered quickly, looking at Epps pleadingly. It would be in everyone's best interests if the mocha skinned woman were to be disengaged from her current koala-like position, considering that Epps would eventually have enough of their close proximity.

"Right! Ellie, Optimus wants to talk to you." Her uncle finally said in realization, smacking his fist into his palm. "Something about it being urgent."

"Oh. Okay. Why didn't you say so in the first place?" his niece asked curiously, dropping the death grip on Fig's neck and unslinging her legs from his waist. "I hope it's nothing too serious. I'd rather not have to do any hard surgery anytime soon, if possible."

"I don't think it's that urgent, sweetheart." Epps snorted affectionately, ruffling Ellie's hair as she passed. "But you let me know how it goes later, alright?"

"Uh huh!" she threw back over her shoulder as she wandered out of the cafeteria area and down the hall, her ponytail bobbing behind her like a tail.

"Now Fig, I'd like to have a talk with you about my niece. I hope you wouldn't mind answering a couple of questions for me." Epps smiled maliciously, cracking his knuckles for emphasis. Fig gulped, knowing full well how futile it would be for him to try to run now.

He was well and royally screwed.

-;-

"You wanted to see me, Boss?" Ellie asked curiously as she entered the Autobots hangar, adjusting her shirt as she did so.

"Indeed I did, Elina." The Autobot commander nodded gently, kneeling to offer her a palm. "Walk with me?"

Ellie decided not to add a smart-ass comment to the end of that statement and instead climbed onto the servo that was as much inviting as it was terrifying. She hadn't really had a lot of communication with the Prime, mainly because of her first meeting with the mech, and it was definitely showing now. Gingerly, she settled herself down into Optimus' palm and crossed her legs, looking up at the Peterbilt's faceplates. All she could see was a calm that radiated off him, and she found herself almost immediately relaxing.

Making sure that the mocha skinned woman wasn't about to fall, Optimus carefully stood to his full height and set off, navigating through the halls of the base far more easily than she was sure she would ever be able to, no matter how well she might have memorized the ventilation systems. What was more, he was silent as he did so, even though he had to be easily the size of a small skyscraper.

Damn them all for being so sneaky.

It didn't even take long for them to reach the entrance to the hangar, and with a quick nod to the men at the door, Optimus continued right on out into the sunlight. Luckily, the heat wasn't as bad as it could have been given the summery months that were coming down on all of their heads, and Ellie was able to continue to sit against the Autobot leader's servo without much difficulty.

Neither of them spoke a word to one another; Ellie simply because Optimus wasn't saying anything, and said mech because of reasons only he knew.

In fact, he remained silent for another ten minutes as he carried the mocha skinned woman across the sandy terrain, making it all the way down the island to the desert area that hardly anyone visited; mainly for the obvious reasons, of course.

It was only then that Optimus finally paused and turned his warm, unidentifiable blue optics onto her.

"Elina, I understand that you have been undergoing some stress over the last couple of days regarding whether or not you would like to accept the position of field medic?" the mech asked gently, the sound vibrating through his palm and shaking Ellie's frame for a moment.

Oh. It was going to be one of those conversations.

Sighing heavily, the mocha skinned woman slouched, covering her eyes with one hand as she thought of all the various ways she could possibly escape at the moment, which currently amounted to none.

"I just don't want to be exposed to that kind of pain, Optimus." She finally said, raising her eyes to meet the calm ones of the larger mech. "I understand that this is a war, and that people get hurt, and people die, but.."

"You do not believe yourself strong enough to make it through this war without having to directly face it."

"Something like that." She murmured. "It's just, I lost mom to war when I was a kid. Every person on the battlefield that I see die is going to be my fault. _My_ responsibility. And I'm so scared that I'm going to fuck up and then I'm going to lose everything."

There was silence for several long moments. Ellie barely even paid attention to it. She was immersed in her thoughts. Of what she had even said. It hadn't made any sense to her own ears, so she could only imagine what Optimus made of it.

"Elina, I believe that you are one of the very few to have ever told me the truth about your fears." The mech finally spoke, raising the woman to eye-optic level. She blinked, surprised at the slightly amused tone that she could hear, and tilted her head slightly to one side in order to convey that fact.

"Even my best mechs have reservations about sharing their fears or concerns with me. Ironhide is especially notorious for doing these things, although Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are a close second." Optimus rumbled gently. "And it takes more courage to say these things than it takes to fight in battle. I myself think the same way. What if I make a mistake? What if one of my comrades falls? I have learned over time that all I can do is to try my hardest so that if I do lose one of them, I at least know that I did my best to prevent such events from happening."

Ellie processed the information for a minute, and it made perfect sense. She wouldn't know if she tried, and considering she hadn't even made an effort, she had already sacrificed lives that would end in the future.

She looked back to Optimus' optics, and a wry smirk crossed her face.

"You've really got a way with words if you can convince me to do something with a small monologue, Boss."

Optimus chuckled. "My apologies, Elina. It seems to come with the job of being Prime."

-;-

"I'm accepting the position, even though I'm still very hesitant about it." Ellie told Ratchet an hour later. She was not in the mood for anything that the mech wanted to say to her at the moment, but she knew that she would eventually have to put aside all of her frustrations at him if they were going to have a happy partnership.

"That is good to hear. I apologize for my earlier statement. I'm afraid I spoke harshly about a topic that is obviously a difficult topic, and it was out of line."

"Yes, it was." Ellie returned primly before nodding and turning to leave. "I'll see you later, Ratchet."

As soon as the doors closed behind the mocha skinned woman, the mech smacked his faceplates with a servo. Honestly, this woman was as bad as a sparkling in her mannerisms! How people managed to put up with her without attempting to offline her was a miracle.

"Uh, sir? Is something the matter?" Jolt asked hesitantly as he entered the door to see the mech glaring at his desk.

"No, nothing. Absolutely nothing, other than the fragging femmes around here." The older mech muttered to himself, grabbing a data-pad and reclining in his seat. "Why would anything be the matter?"

Jolt slowly backed out the door he'd just entered, deciding that a bit of space would probably be the best thing for his senior at the moment.


	31. Never Leave the CMO at Home

_Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. _

_-George Santayana_

-;-

"Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored." Ellie drawled to herself, splayed out on her Med Bay floor and looking up at the rather high ceiling. "Nothing to do, no one to see."

It was true. Everyone was out on missions. Even all the weird people in the less active divisions were gone! Security, Computers, _everyone_. Plus, the Autobots were out on one of their 'Decepticon Exterminations', so there wasn't even one of the femmes to talk to. Plus, Will was still working on her own training schedule with Ratchet now that she had agreed on becoming a field medic, so she didn't even have something to occupy herself with. Not unless she wanted to brave the forty something degree weather outside and possibly get heatstroke or something along those lines.

Was this what she had to look forward to if she hadn't decided to go for the field medic position? Even Jolt had gone with the team, and he was just Ratchet's apprentice! Mind, he was a pretty cool 'bot, so there wasn't any harm meant by that thought.

Leon would still be sound asleep at this point, so calling her would be out of the question unless she wanted to be hunted down from across the world and murdered brutally. Her father, likewise, would still be out of it as well.

Groaning, Ellie slung an arm across her eyes, willing something to magically happen so that she wouldn't be so damned bored. "Lonely…..I am so lonely…." She hummed to herself, willing something to come to her so that she wouldn't have to go into the state that Leon less than lovingly dubbed, 'The Antisocial Phase'.

Needless to say, bad things happened during that phase.

-;-

After proceeding to wander around base for a couple of hours, Ellie began to feel more and more like she was being watched by something. But that was impossible, considering she knew quite well that she was alone in the giant base. Was that even allowed to happen? You'd think that they'd leave a couple of people behind to keep an eye on the place, right? They wouldn't just leave her here to her own devices for God knows how long, would they?

Muttering to herself, the mocha skinned woman turned on her heel and headed for the cafeteria, completely distracting herself from what she had been talking about several seconds before.

-;-

"Ratchet or no Ratchet, it's a free world and I can sit up here if I like." Ellie hissed to herself from her new nest up in the ventilation shafts. She'd raided the various materials from the Med Bay and had dragged them up into the now familiar entrance that she used down the hall from her quarters. Now, she'd surrounded herself in varying shades of light green sheets and blankets, along with several other objects that she couldn't quite identify. Not to mention Sir Kraft-a-Lot and Mr. Wrench. They were her only companions now. Though Sir Kraft-a-Lot was looking more suspicious and box-like than he was supposed to look in her mind, and Mr. Wrench was just more quiet than usual. Maybe she shouldn't have gotten into her uncle's private stash of choco- wait. What was she saying? Of course it had been a good idea. The wonderful tingly feeling that was soaring through her veins was testimony enough for her.

"Sir Kraft-a-Lot, I'm afraid you may not be with me for much longer." The mocha skinned woman lamented, holding up the box of Kraft Dinner to her face so that he could hear her more clearly. "You see, Mr. Wrench and I are getting hungry, and you're the only food source nearby.."

There was silence from the box.

"I know we've had some rough times, but don't worry, your brave sacrifice will not be in vain!" she exclaimed valiantly, holding the box high and proceeding to tear open said box to snack on the crunchy noodles within.

-;-

"Wow. I don't think we've ever had that many Decepticons at once before." Fig grumbled to himself from next to Will. Said man rolled his eyes at Epps, who was seated across from him, before patting Fig on the shoulder.

"Hey, think on the bright side. At least we didn't have to go through anything like we did way back when all of this started."

"Don't remind me." The Spanish man shuddered, looking over to the line of brightly colored motorcycles. Minus Prowl and Glyph, of course. The blue Audi R8 was parked right beside the other femmes, while Prowl's unknown alt-mode was ahead, the black and bronze color scheme the only bike that wasn't bright and bold like the myriad of pink, blue and orange that made up Arcee, Elita, Chromia and Flareup. "That creepy scorpion bastard gave me nightmares for weeks."

"Gave all of us nightmares, brother." Epps replied, tone light. Will knew quite well, however, that the lightness that he was trying to keep up was only a cover for how hard hit he had been over everything that had happened in that first month. That first month was not one that they were going to forget in their lifetimes, that much was assured. The trauma that had followed of even learning that humans weren't alone in living in their happy little universe was bad enough, but learning that these aliens were sentient giant robots? That was a whole other playing field that no one was entirely sure of how to approach. Still not quite sure how to approach, in fact.

"So, how do you think Ellie's doing by herself for the first time at base?" Will asked, changing the subject back over to the mocha skinned woman that they'd been talking about earlier in their plane ride. "Think she'll stay out of trouble?"

Epps and Fig both gave Will disbelieving looks, Fig leaning away from the man to look at him better. "Are you _insane_? We'll be lucky if there's even a base left when we get back."

"Ellie doesn't do well with being alone." Epps stated blandly. "Same with being bored. If you thought the paintball war was bad…" the dark skinned man shivered. "That's not even half of what she can do."

Will suddenly felt his stomach drop. He remembered the paintball war all too clearly. He was sure that he would never forget that. Not only because it was paintball, but of how terrifying the strategy she and her friend had even had in taking down almost all of the opposition with what seemed like hardly any effort.

"Oh shit."

-;-

As soon as the plane touched down and the back open, the first of the men and Autobots trailed off. Will was immediately relieved to find that the base was still standing, and there didn't appear to be any signs of trouble on the outside…but that didn't mean that there wasn't any trouble on the inside of the base.

The two pairs of twins came off the plane, screeching their brakes and revving their engines playfully at one another, followed by Ratchet and the femmes, Prowl, Jolt and Prime right behind Ironhide. Optimus flicked his headlights at Will questioningly as he passed into the hangar, to which Will simply shook his head before making sure that everyone was getting their things and making their way off the plane without forgetting anything. Not that it was a problem; just a habit that he'd developed over the years. It could mean the difference between life and death in a critical mission, after all.

Meanwhile, as everyone else entered the base, they were suddenly unnerved by the silence. It wasn't a big secret that Ellie had been left 'home alone', for lack of a better term, but now that there was no sign of her, there was concern beginning to show itself among the ranks.

"Ellie?" Epps called, looking around warily, the rest of the men behind him. They knew what their Medical Officer was capable of, and considering that they couldn't see her, it was a cause for them to worry on what might be in store for them.

"Ellie?" Epps called again, taking a step forward, only to let out a shriek as the woman that they were looking for dropped out of nowhere. There were just a couple things wrong about the picture. One, Ellie was dressed in some kind of tribal looking outfit, and two, she was wielding a wrench.

"Beware the ghost of Sir Kraft-a-Lot!" she screeched before tearing off down the hall, wrench held high over her head.

"Uh, Will?"

"I saw." Epps' friend said, face pale. "We're never leaving her alone again."


	32. Saving Private Ellie

_Bitterness imprisons life; love releases it._

_-Harry Emerson Fosdick_

-;-

"So, Ellie." Fig said casually, sidling up to the mocha skinned woman on the bench at the table she was sitting at. "How are you this morning, _chica_?"

"Shhhh…" came the tired reply from the sugar-high exhausted woman. She barely had the strength to lift her head up from the table, and the coffee in her hand was beginning to _go cold_. Now, if nothing else had been indication enough, the fact that Ellie was too exhausted to even drink her coffee first thing in the morning was. "I'm letting my body slowly kill me from the amount of sugar that I had yesterday."

The Spanish man had to raise a brow at that one, considering that Ellie was being unusually quiet this fine summer morning.

"Really? In that case, I suppose it wouldn't really matter if I were to go wandering towards your room then, hmm?" he said, moving to get up. However, a clawed hand latched onto his forearm, nails digging deep as Ellie raised her head and glared daggers at him. Needless to say, if they were real daggers, he would have instantly been dead and his body unrecognizable.

"I was kidding! KIDDING!"

-;-

Leon groaned, rolling out of bed and finding herself landing on her pillow, which must have managed to fall off of her bed at some point before she had.

Several curses came to mind at waking up upon collision, but her annoyance was quickly neutralized by the sudden nausea that hit her. Leaping up from the floor, she sprinted for the bathroom, finding herself embracing the toilet bowl moments later as she heaved up whatever she'd eaten for dinner the night before. Which happened to be leftover pasta from the night before that. And it did not taste good as it came back up, she could say with all certainty.

This lasted for a good several minutes, and when all was said and done, the brunette was breathing heavily and wondering when the hell she'd managed to get the stomach flu.

"Fuck." She hissed. "Now I've got to call in sick."

-;-

"Morning, Ellie." Will said cautiously as he approached the still motionless woman at the table. Fig and the other men had long since cleared out and headed off to training, so she had been left to her own devices. Well, at least until he had come along.

"Ungh."

"I just came by to drop off your training schedule. If you want to start today, you have hand to hand defensive training in a half hour."

Will didn't think that he'd ever seen someone not in the battlefield move so fast in his life. One second Ellie's head was still on the table and the woman looking as though she wouldn't move for the rest of her life, and the next she was nearly bouncing with joy as she tore the piece of paper out of Will's hands.

"Thank you God!" she crowed, green eyes glancing over all of the different aspects of training that she would be receiving. "I have weapons training with Ironhide at four? Sweet!"

Yeah, there would be a great many things that Will would never understand in his life, and women were still number one on his lists. And now that there was a near permanent woman on base, all hell was going to break loose. Especially since seeing what she was capable of on an 'off' day.

"I'll see you at dinner, then." The man coughed awkwardly before making a hasty retreat.

-;-

It was a mild shock at the very least to most of the newer recruits to see Ellie practically jumping with joy as she waited to see what would be in store for her during the training process. And of course, since they were newer and not entirely aware about the woman's status, they all smirked as they thought about what their teacher would say once he walked into the hangar.

Unfortunately for them, however, Ellie's grin only widened at seeing Fig walk into the hangar, cracking his knuckles. At seeing the mocha skinned woman waiting for him, arms crossed, a brow raised, he visibly shivered and sent her a nervous look before attempting to gain control of himself. Which didn't actually result in the way that he'd been hoping. Instead, he continued to look mildly nervous as he told the group what they'd be working on before pairing everyone up.

Ellie, of course, ended up with one of the cockier new recruits, and the guy was giving her one hell of a look of disbelief as the mocha skinned woman warmed up.

"What's got the instructor so worked up about you for?" he asked arrogantly as he flexed his muscles, not even bothering to warm up properly. "You his girlfriend or something?"

"No." Ellie replied with a shrug as she fell into a natural stance and waited. "However, if you manage to get my shoulder in a spar, I'll tell you who I am."

Of course, a deal like this just couldn't be turned down, and the guy charged like a rampaging bull, fists wild. Ellie calmly waited before sidestepping and easily knocking him down with an extended foot. It would have been less pathetic if he'd actually looked down, but since he didn't, he ended up with his face in the ground and Ellie giving him a deadpan stare. Turning to look at Fig, she gave him a _what the hell is this? _Look before turning back to her so called opponent.

"You know, if this is the best that NEST is offering, I'd say that the world's screwed." She commented idly, poking the blond in the side of the head before retreating as he leapt back to his feet.

"You bitch!" he snarled. "You'll regret that!"

There was really no way how to put the next hour of training. However, within that time period, Ellie had given her sparring partner a black eye, three dislocated fingers, and so many bruises that she was surprised he didn't look like a plum. And by the end of it all, she was barely breaking a sweat as she hauled her poor victim off to her Med Bay for her special care.

-;-

In weapons training with Ironhide, then it was a little more entertaining.

Ellie had held a military handgun maybe…four times in her life. A rifle, on the other hand, she knew like the back of her own hand. After all, her father had taken her hunting when she was growing up. It was their own special brand of father/daughter time. So while the mocha skinned woman failed miserably at shooting a still target with the handgun, she was one of the top in terms of shooting a moving target with a rifle.

Ironhide was greatly amused by the end of his training session, all things considered. And the poor recruits who'd thought that the mocha skinned woman with the green eyes was too bubble-headed to be an actual member of NEST were also scarred for life. Along with that, there were three new members to be added to the steadily growing list of patients under her care.

And to add salt to the injury, the femmes had shown up right near the end of the session, when Ellie was demonstrating the proper positioning for a standing shot with the rifle. Needless to say, Chromia had been impressed, Flareup wanted to see something explode, Glyph was more curious about the woman that was beginning to become a close acquaintance, and Elita and Arcee were smiling at the fact that a fellow femme such as themselves was giving the mechs a lesson in their own playing field. Was it a little amusing for the mechs around them to hear the femmes commenting these things?

Definitely.

All in all, by the time dinner rolled around, Ellie was nearly passed out in her bowl of soup, while Fig prodded her cautiously with his own spoon, Lex giggled madly, and Eliza and Marcus remained in their own little world. Which, of course, Lex took the opportunity to taunt them about while she could.

It didn't end well.

-;-

"Simulation…training?" Ellie tilted her head to one side, blinking quizzically at the look that Will was giving her. The blond commander sighed, feeling like this was the seventh time that he'd gone over this with the mocha skinned woman in the last five minutes, and nodded once again.

"You're getting split into three groups. In those groups, one person will be assigned an Autobot 'lookout', who will also be someone's Guardian. That person will have to work as a team with that Autobot while working with the rest of your team against the 'Decepticons'. Am I making any sense to you now?"

"So…Ironhide's going to be one of the Decepticons, right?"

Will groaned, slapping his forehead with his palm, before shrugging. He gave up. Ellie would pick up on the general idea of the exercise soon enough, anyway.

"Alright! Group One! Over here with Arcee! Lex, you're Arcee's partner!" Will called, gesturing the first group over towards himself before pointing one of his arms to the left. "Group Two! You're here with Prowl! Andy! You're Prowl's partner! And Group Three, you're here with Chromia! Ellie, you're Chromia's partner!"

The three motorcycle alt-mode Autobots gave curt nods before transforming down, and Ellie nearly died at seeing the shiny piece of machinery that lay before her gleam in the light from above. The giant hangar had been completely renovated to look like a city, with the buildings around them brushing the top of the hangar.

"What your mission is as individual teams is to have your Autobot/Guardian team infiltrate the Decepticon zone and make sure that the rest of your team gets through without getting caught. If you get caught, you're classified as 'dead'. If you die, leave your gear at the spot it happened and head back here. There will be a screen set up so you can continue to watch your team and its progress, also here so that you can come up with alternate routes and so on and so forth. Your teams will be mashed up once all teams have either completed or failed this task. Any questions?" Will stated calmly, pacing back and forth in front of the thirty or so people standing in front of him.

Ellie, of course, had to raise her hand.

"Who are the Decepticons for this mission, sir?" she asked with a straight face, even as she caught the sound of Chromia's engine revving slightly. "So that we have an idea of who we're going up against?"

"You will receive intel via your headset in the helmet I'm about to give you and the other two leaders of this mission. During the course of this mission, you will be forced to make decisions to help ensure the highest possible chance of victory." Will replied immediately, gesturing to three separate motorcycle helmets on the ground next to him. "Now get ready. You start in five."

Ellie immediately went for the helmet nearest to herself, and pulled it on over her head, flipping the visor up so that she could actually see the gear that she was pulling on. And she had to say, some of the stuff was pretty damn sleek and shiny, even though it was military equipment. She looked like some kind of modern ninja chick by the time she pulled over the thick jacket that would (hopefully) protect her for the most part if she and Chromia were to wipe out.

"_So, I guess you and me are partners, huh." _Chromia stated dryly over the headset in the helmet as Will gave the motion to get ready to move out. Ellie snorted at the slight sound of eagerness that she could hear in the mechanical femme's tone, and slung one booted foot over the bike with a smooth motion.

"That we are." She replied, revelling in the simplicity of the feel of the engine rumbling softly under her feet, visor flicked down so no one could see the childish look of glee on the mocha skinned woman's face. "You ready to go kick some tailpipe?"

"_You, femme, are one after my own spark." _Chromia laughed darkly in return as Will gave them the nod to go. With a savage rev of the engine, Chromia took off, Ellie hanging on with all the skill she could muster.

-;-

"_New intel. Decepticon just up ahead. Designation: Ironhide." _Will's voice said briskly over the frequency. Ellie heard Chromia snort rather loudly through the headset a moment later, and the blue femme pulled into a darker alley to allow the mocha skinned woman a moment to plan a way to get through.

"Intel received, base. Mocha out." Ellie replied to Will before pressing the side of her headset to transfer the new information to Marcus.

Unfortunately for her, the mocha skinned woman and the Second in Command had been put onto the same team. Something neither of them particularly enjoyed, but knew they had to deal with if they successfully wanted to get through this training without getting chewed out by Will or Eliza.

"Alright. Looks like we're up against Ironhide. Chromia and I'll make a distraction while you get the guys to the next designated safe point. I'll meet you there if all goes well." She said quickly, knowing that Chromia would automatically be on board for taunting her spark-mate. She, on the other hand, would be quaking in her freakishly comfortable military boots while wondering why the fuck she was going to be creating a distraction and risking both her and Chromia's lives. "Chromia, let's get going before I change my mind."

"_Yes ma'am." _The femme replied cheerily before she pulled back the front of the motorcycle into a wheelie and flew back out into the open. _"Nice call, by the way."_

The mocha skinned woman laughed shakily. "Really? Because I don't find it like that at all. I could get you killed because of this."

"_And considering that this is a war that we brought to your planet, I would offline happily if it meant I got to take one of these slaggers with me." _The femme returned casually before skidding to a halt. _"By the way, there's my spark-mate." _

Will hadn't been joking earlier when he'd said that these guys were going to be taking their roles seriously. All, and she meant all, of the giant mechs cannons were online. And currently, they were pointed straight at her.

"You ready to play hide-and-seek?" she asked, feeling the adrenaline pumping through her veins. As Chromia's engine growled, Ellie could almost sense the smug grin that would be crossing the femme's faceplates.

"_You have no idea."_

-;-

"Well, it seems that we have one team that had the least amount of losses, though I don't necessarily agree with the way that the victory came about." Will reluctantly admitted at the end of the training session. "Ellie and Marcus' team only lost four members total during the entire exercise. But only because of some extremely reckless behavior that would have resulted in the loss of the leader of the mission."

"Actually, Marcus, Chromia and I all agreed that if it were a reality and I did die, she would loop back to get Marcus from a formerly specified location and continue the mission without me." Ellie pointed out with a side glance to Marcus. The male in question returned her look with a slight nod of what appeared to be approval before straightening as Will's gaze rested on him.

"Is this true?"

It wasn't a hostile question, merely an honest one. He wanted to know if the pair had actually managed to coordinate a strategy together; one of the key parts to the training. If the leader and the undecided SIC couldn't get along, there wouldn't really be any mission to continue if the leader ended up dying. But that didn't seem to be the case for any of the groups, for once.

"Yes sir."

"Huh. And Ironhide? What's your opinion on these groups?" Will turned to the giant black mech, who was currently sporting some very bright splashes of red and blue on his armor. Crankily, the Weapons Specialist gave his spark-mate and Ellie a dark glare before resuming trying to rub off the pestilence that he called paintballs.

"The femmes have a good shot." He admitted.

"Slagging straight we do." Chromia cocked on hip, optics gleaming brightly with mischievous glee at her spark-mate's discomfort. "We should do this more often!"


	33. Never Leave Them to Their Own Devices

_When you are through changing, you are through._

_-Bruce Barton_

-;-

Another week passed, and Ellie found herself beginning to fall into a steady rhythm. For the first chunk of her day, from the point she got up until just before lunch, the mocha skinned woman was studying with Ratchet, both Cybertronian and Human anatomy. Along with this, he was teaching her how to take a Decepticon down if she ever needed to. Mind, that topic was already covered in the defensive mech/human training, but that wasn't really the point.

After lunch, she had agility and obstacle course training with her uncle, followed by hand to hand with Fig and then weapons training with Ironhide. After dinner, she was set up with the simulation training, led by Will, and after that, she was finally allowed to go to bed. Only to get up the next morning and do it all again. Then again, she supposed it wasn't that bad, She got to keep track of all the guys that ended up coming into her domain (aka Med Bay), considering that she was the one that put them there.

Now, Ellie also happened to be continuously paired up with Marcus after the initial simulation that they'd been grouped together for, and the mocha skinned woman was almost certain that Will was doing it so that the two of them would eventually give up trying to kill one another in favor of trying to work together. However, she was too tired out by the end of the day to really care who she'd been paired up with or even if she'd been trying to kill them in the first place.

On the sixth day, there was another Decepticon call from somewhere in Russia. And of course, since everyone had learned their lesson from the last time they'd left Ellie alone on base…

They left her with someone to keep an eye on her.

Poor bastard.

-;-

Lex looked up from her magazine for the third time in several seconds, unable to shake the feeling that there was something terribly, terribly wrong here. And of course, like any concerned babysitter, she went looking for her co-babysitter.

Ironhide had gotten a fairly nasty gash from Sideswipe while the two of them had been sparring, and Ratchet had seen it as a good opportunity for the Weapons Specialist to attempt to catch up on his recharge.

Now, however, Lex was finding the suspicious need to disturb the peace that the mech was in due to a sixth sense of sorts. An actual sixth sense this time, too. Not her usual mumbo jumbo, either; like her Mexican love senses that only vaguely existed. There was something seriously out of whack here, and it was making the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

"I'm gonna go check on the old man." She muttered to herself, putting the magazine down on the table next to her rather comfortable camping chair and standing, flipping her blond ponytail out of her face. Quickly cracking her back, the short blond took to the halls, the prickling sensation on the back of her neck continuing to gain strength the closer she got to the hangar she knew the large black mech to be resting in. And also adding in the factor of no Ellie anywhere in the open, Lex instinctively prepared for the worst.

Tentatively, she pulled back the door to the hangar and poked her head in, then froze.

She wasn't entirely sure how to take the scene in front of her, nor was she entirely certain that she wanted to get involved. After all, considering that there was Ellie, dressed in the creepy tribal garb from the last time she was left alone, sitting on Ironhide's hood.

_Lighting a fire with a couple of sticks. _

On the one hand, Lex could simply walk away. Or, being the mature woman that she was, she could brave the unpredictable, possibly dangerous woman crouched on the hood of a gigantic metal being. No fucking pressure _at all._

But then again, there was Eliza and Will and Epps to deal with later if she didn't, either.

Goddamnit.

"Ellie…?" she asked, slowly entering the hangar and warily moving towards the mocha skinned woman. Said woman tensed and raised her head, hissing as she held the two sticks she was attempting to light a fire with threateningly. "Put down the sticks and come here."

"No. You're against me. How do I know Sir Kraft-a-Lot's ghost didn't send you?" Ellie said quite logically, though her eyes were slightly unfocused as she looked back at her smouldering nest of twigs that she was currently attempting to set on fire.

"Sir what now?" the blond asked in disbelief, completely taken off guard by the single name that Ellie had just uttered. On second thought, she really didn't want to know. "You know what, let's go. I don't know this Sir whatever his name is, and I'm sure there's somewhere else you could be lighting a fire."

"But why? This truck ate Ironhide. I have to free him from his human bonds!"

…Now that just sounded suspiciously like a quote from Pirates of the Caribbean. Sighing, Lex rubbed the bridge of her nose and decided she would give it one more shot before she resorted to physically dragging Ellie off of Ironhide, regardless if she woke the mech or not. It was for his benefit in the long run, after all. A couple of scorch marks and she'd be fine. Maybe.

"Well, you could race me to your Med Bay instead and we could get you to lie down for a minute. You must be feeling a little tired, right?"

The mocha skinned woman hesitated; a good sign that something Lex was saying was actually getting through whatever haze was clouding the woman's mind and distracting her from her current task. What had even possessed her to go after Ironhide in the first place, other than the whole, "The truck ate Ironhide" thing. Because to be completely fair, Lex and the other women had done a lot of strange things on base. But Ellie seemed to be taking first price with her antics.

"Okay." She agreed mildly, hopping off the truck and leaving behind the sticks and her tribal dies on the hood of Ironhide's alt-mode. It was a good thing that the embers and/or smoke that she had created wouldn't actually last all that long against the metal, or she would have a major issue on her hands.

"That was easy." Lex blinked, watching as Ellie meandered off towards the entrance to the hangar and out into the hall, heading in the general direction Lex knew from experience led to the Med Bay. However, a moment later, she could hear the psychotic giggles of, _"I'M BEATING YOU!" _echoing back to her ears.

"Thank God." She breathed, taking a moment to lean against Ironhide's alt-mode and wipe off the sweat she could feel beading on her brow off and rubbing it on her pants. "That was a little too close for comfort."

-;-

By the time the rest of the ranks of NEST came back to base, Lex and Ellie had both crashed in Med Bay, while Ironhide was still blissfully in recharge (or a coma) in the same hangar that he had been in the entire time. Which led to a few people questioning how heavy a recharger the mech actually was. Which then led to Sunstreaker and Sideswipe to get out the pails of paint. And, with the permission of Ratchet and Will, got to work on the mech. After all, from the note left by Lex on the main hangar door, not a lot had happened other than Ellie going nuts and Ironhide being in a metaphorical coma.

By the end of the experience, even Optimus was trying not to crack a smile, though almost everyone was certain that behind the battle mask that was exactly what he was doing. Prowl just shook his helm, realizing that since the twins had been given permission to do so, there wasn't a lot that was either illegal or illogical about the situation in general.

There was no sign of Skidz or Mudflap, thank Primus for the other Autobots, but Optimus had warned them not to go anywhere near Ellie's wing of the base or get into any trouble with the superior 'bots or there would be severe consequences. Then again, you'd think they'd learn after going after the human femme so many times.

Anyway, by the time that the twins had finished finger painting on Ironhide's black alt-mode, he had a very nice looking painting of Chromia along one side of the truck, while the other side had the words _Gay AND European _scrawled across the other; courtesy of Sideswipe. It wasn't their fault that they'd found the internet and the catchy musical. Boredom and brig-time tended to do that to mechs. It led to them doing odd things simply because they could and because they didn't care.

"Well, let's get on with life and go check on the girls, shall we?" Epps clapped his hands, earning a nod from Eliza before the SRT leader gestured to Marcus.

"Go get Lex, will you, Marc? I'm tired and hitting the showers. Actually, grab both of the girls. We need some girl bonding time without any of you men interfering."

"Ma'am yes ma'am." Marcus drawled sarcastically, rolling his eyes and mock saluting before sauntering away, completely ignoring Epps' choked look that he sent at his back.

"What happened to me?" he lamented. Eliza leaned over and rested a hand on his shoulder, a smirk pulling at the corners of her lips.

"You were replaced."

"_NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" _

-;-

The unfortunate issue for Marcus was, while he did somewhat now get along with Ellie, there was still the matter of actually having to check in on her and Lex, and even where they were, (Which, as it turned out, wasn't all that hard to do, considering that Lex had left a trail of notes along the hallway with little arrows drawn on them).

And so, he came to find himself standing outside of Ellie's Med Bay, debating if it was worth risking his life in entering the Med Bay, and if he didn't, if it would be worth the agony he'd be in from Eliza.

Yeah, that wasn't going to happen. Time to grow some balls and just do it.

Knocking, the male was very nearly expecting to have the doors fly open and nail him in the face; except that they didn't. And strangely enough, he didn't know how to feel about that one. On the one hand, it could mean that he wasn't going to die a horrible painful death, and on the other, it could also mean that they were lying in wait for him-

Wow. He blinked. When had he gotten so paranoid about all of this?

"Damnit. The worst that could happen when you open the door is that two women will maul you." He assured himself pathetically before sucking in a breath and opening the doors. And wouldn't you know it, nothing extraordinary happened. There were no fireworks, no strange sounds, nothing. There was calm silence.

Well, other than the pair of snores coming from what appeared to be from the vents. Glancing up, Marcus seriously debated the issue of how he was going to get up there before groaning.

"Fucking women and their weird tendencies to sleep in weird fucking places."


	34. Shake it Up

_It is in the dim haze of mystery that adds enchantment to pursuit._

_-Antoine Rivarol_

-;-

"Remind me again how you managed to convince me to take another freakishly long plane ride to get here just so you can show me off to a bunch of bigwigs?" Ellie growled, resisting the urge to pull the expensive clothing off of her body and burn it so that nothing would remain for blackmail.

She was currently wearing a simple floorlength pale yellow gown with one shoulder and a darker yellow waist. Her hair was curled up into light curls that waved around her face tauntingly, daring her to move them out of the way without distracting anyone around her, and she could feel the damned high heels that she almost always refused to wear digging into her toes.

It wasn't that she hated dressing up; the opposite, in fact. Ellie greatly enjoyed dressing up from time to time. It was when she was talked into doing it while on a plane that would be taking her to her fate in _France_ that she had problems with. At least she was given a credit card and driven to whatever designer store that she wanted (needed) to go to in order to get her clothing in order.

The only part of this that she was seriously enjoying at the moment was that she wasn't the only one here who looked completely out of their element. There was Fig, Lex, and even her uncle who looked uncomfortable in the expensive gowns and suits that they were wearing. That alone was enough to make the mocha skinned woman smirk into her drink as she carefully avoided most contact with the partygoers around her. She still didn't quite understand why Will had made her come to this stupid party anyway. It wasn't like she absolutely needed to be there or anything; in fact, she would rather be out and about and enjoying the blessed freedom that being away from Diego Garcia gave her. It was so much nicer to enjoy a climate during the evening that wasn't trying to roast you alive.

"Excuse me, madam, but might I have this dance?" a soft voice asked from behind her. Jumping slightly, the woman whirled, only to come face to face with none other than Marcus. He raised a brow quizzically at Ellie's own stare before offering her a hand, to which she hesitantly took. She wasn't entirely sure why the man was suddenly being so friendly with her, but then again, they weren't cooped up on Diego Garcia at the moment. That was probably the one factor that caused the two of them to argue all of the time.

"Do I dare ask what brought about this change in your attitude, or should I just go along with it and wait for us to be back to normal tomorrow?" she asked quietly as the dark haired man led her over to the dance floor, where there were several other couples slowly moving along. "Because to be perfectly honest, I think I like you better like this."

She was awarded with a gleaming smile that almost knocked her back on her feet, and Marcus laughed lightly.

_Gotta be the drink I had. _Ellie thought to herself as she found herself laughing along. Damn him and his charmingness, taking advantage of a poor, tipsy CMO while she was without her trusty wrench. She'd like to see him then. Probably wouldn't be so cocky and self-confident then, wou-

Ellie blinked several times, wondering what on earth had just overcome her. It was like she was having a slight emotional breakdown, the way she was flipping through emotions. _Damnit, I thought I was done being a teenager!_

"I think it's because we aren't back on base right now." He admitted a moment later as he twirled Ellie; belatedly, the mocha skinned woman realized that they had actually begun to dance. Something that she was admittedly not the best at. She was a bit too much of an ungraceful duckling in these stupid heels, and considering that she was dancing with Marcus, that feeling was only being multiplied as she was continued to be danced into what she was sure would be oblivion. "Though I must say, lately we haven't exactly been hostile to one another."

"Since the simulation." Ellie frowned, suddenly feeling everything begin to click in her mind. "You think Hell froze over or something, or is it just us finally getting to know each other? I'll admit we didn't exactly meet on the best of terms."

"You looked like you just woke up and I'd been out on patrol. Yeah, I think we can both agree that we could have had a better first encounter than that." Marcus snorted, though there was a hint of a smirk pulling at the edge of his lip.

"I did just wake up." The mocha skinned woman corrected, remembering all too well how much of a sight she had looked later on in that same day. It was like she'd decided to take a sick-day or something; hair sticking up in all directions despite the fact that it was pulled back into a bun, her pajamas hanging off of her hips and shoulders, clunky boots on her feet. "And to be honest, you _were_ being a bit of a prick."

The male in question shrugged good-naturedly, the small smile not leaving his features at all as the pair danced across the floor. "I suppose so…" he joked, earning a laugh from Ellie. She liked this interaction much better than the immature kindergartener attitude the pair of them had been displaying towards one another for the last several months.

"I propose we start over again. Agreed?" Ellie stated matter-of-factly before pulling away and offering him her hand. "Hi, my name's Elina. Nice to meet you. Call me Ellie or I'll cause you misery for the rest of your life."

Marcus raised a brow, but took the proffered hand anyway. "Nice to meet you, Ellie. I'm Marcus. Don't call me Marc like Eliza does."

"Alright. Now that we've got that over and done with, I think I need another drink. Thank you for the dance, Marcus. It was a pleasure." Ellie smiled, making a small little bow before moving away towards one of the servers wandering around with what appeared to be a tray full of white wine. Snagging one of the thin flutes, she tipped it up and very nearly inhaled the entire thing. Although she was partially enjoying herself, there was still the other part of her that just wanted to get the night over and done with so that she would get to do some exploring while she was in France. After all, how many opportunities did a girl get where she got to go to France for a freaking party? Especially after being cooped up on an island for something along the lines of four or five months with no one but giant sentient beings and a shit ton of men for company.

"Wow, Ellie. I didn't know you cleaned up so well."

Turning on her heel, Ellie raised a brow at her uncle, who raised his hands in submission and adorned the appropriate sheepish expression.

"Hey, it's not my fault I missed out on most of your childhood." He pointed out logically before looking over the mocha skinned woman with a appraising glance. "And I've gotta say, you've inherited your mama's good looks, sweetheart."

"Thanks, Uncle Epps." She replied with a faint smile. It wasn't often that her uncle actually sobered up enough; it wasn't that big of a secret that he had been deeply affected by the loss of his sister-in-law. Perhaps not so much for the rest of her family, but that was an entirely different topic that was neither brief nor pleasant for anyone to speak of. "You don't look so bad yourself."

Epps grimaced for a moment, and it took a long moment before Ellie realized that it wasn't actually her he was grimacing at, but the fact that she'd called him 'Uncle Epps'.

"What happened to 'Uncle Rob'?" he lamented, shaking his head and straightening his suit jacket.

"I grew up, I guess. Either that or Dad always mentioning that you always went by Epps caught on." Ellie shrugged delicately. "Either way, you're still my uncle."

"You've got me there, sweetheart." The dark skinned man sighed, knowing that there was no way in hell that he would be able to make a stand in public against her. She was wearing high heels; those suckers had the equivalent amount of weight on them that an elephant had on one foot. It wasn't something that he felt like going up against, that was for sure. "Just know that I will be finding a way to get a picture to your dad. I imagine he'll be wanting pictures of his little girl all gussied up for the evening in France. All we need now is for you to find a strapping young man that all of us military men approve of and you're good to go."

"Yeah." Ellie deadpanned. "Over my dead body, I would imagine."

"Awww…don't be like that, Ellie!"

-;-

Leon was not having a good time.

For the last three fucking days, she had been puking up her guts like it was nobody's business; which it wasn't, of course. But that wasn't the point. The point was, at five in the fucking morning, for the last three fucking days, she had been making a dash for the porcelain god that made its home in her bathroom; the toilet.

Needless to say, she and the toilet were well acquainted once again once five thirty rolled around, and then she got cleaned up and went back to bed like nothing had even happened. Which not only pissed the brunette off, but terrified her as well. Was she getting some sort of serious sickness or something? Was she diseased?

"That's it." She groaned as she heaved into the toilet. "I'm going to the fucking doctor and getting them to tell me what the fuck's wrong with my fucking system. I'm done."

-;-

As it turned out, Ellie did end up having a great time for the rest of the evening at the party, considering that she wasn't actually required to do any socializing. Will and her uncle were all over that for her. She was only told to go and be herself; which probably in hindsight wouldn't be the best thing to do, but the consequences would play out whichever way things went.

Fig caught the mocha skinned woman's eye from across the room, and Ellie giggled like a schoolgirl as he waggled his eyebrows at her.

Now, by this point, she was sure that she had ingested more alcohol than she had originally intended, so it was no surprise that by the time the Spanish man and the mocha skinned woman met in the middle, they were so out of breath from laughing that it was hard for them to even speak coherently to one another.

"So, you enjoying yourself?" Fig finally managed to get out, somehow pulling free from the alcohol's grip for several moments before grinning again. Ellie rolled her eyes, her head spinning but her wits still about her, and shrugged.

"I haven't been causing mass destruction, so I suppose not, but at the same time, I can't help but say that yes, I am having fun. I'm free! I'm not trapped on the island for another night! I can actually breath in the fresh air that isn't trying to suffocate me!"

"That's good."

There was silence for a good long moment, and then the two of them cracked up. It was kind of hard not to, after all, what with all of the alcohol in their systems and the fact that everyone at this point was beginning to let loose a little more than they usually would.

"So, you want to dance, _chica?"_

"Let's do this, Tacobell."


	35. Trouble in Paradise

_Every action in our lives will touch on a chord that will vibrate in eternity._

_-Edwin Hubbel Chapin_

-;-

Her head hurt, for one. Why did her head hurt?

Groaning, Ellie rolled over, pulling her pillow over her head and cuddling further into a rather warm chest that was pressed into her back before realizing that there was a _chest_ leaning against her _back_. And she didn't know how that managed to happen.

Eyes snapping open, she bolted upright, whirling to stare at the all too familiar face of Fig.

"Oh no. Oh no no no no." she hissed as she clued into the fact that neither of them were wearing any clothing and that she was feeling particularly sore. "There is no _fucking_ way-"

The Spanish man stirred.

Ellie wracked her brains for some kind of logical explanation of how she had ended up here, in this bed, with Fig of all people. All she could remember was bits and pieces of the previous evening. Her and Marcus, a bit of her uncle, and then nothing. Why was there nothing when there should have definitely been something?

However, there was no need to worry, considering that Fig looked just as startled to see Ellie staring at him like a deer with headlights being shone into its eyes. His mouth opened in shock several times, and then the both of them were scrambling to get as much distance between themselves as possible.

"How- what-" Fig sputtered before falling backwards off the bed and taking most of the covers with him. The mocha skinned woman left on top of the bed was then treated to several moments of heavy cursing in Spanish before said Spanish man made an appearance again.

"That's what I'd like to know." Ellie replied rather mildly, though her heart was beating in her throat and there was an uncomfortable feeling in her gut as she carefully averted her gaze from Fig.

Fig opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, there was a frantic banging on the door.

"_FIG! I KNOW SHE'S IN THERE!"_

"Uncle Epps?" the mocha skinned woman hissed to herself, searching out anywhere that she could possibly hide without being found should her uncle actually step foot in the room. Unfortunately, the room was small, orderly, and virtually shadowless. To put it mildly, she was screwed.

"Just open the door." She sighed, collapsing back down on the bed, slinging an arm over her face. "Better to get it over with now."

-;-

"Well, Ms. Lans, I've got some good news for you." Leon's doctor said as he came back into the room, flipping a couple of papers on his clipboard before looking up. "You're not going to 'die from some kind of unknown disease', as you so eloquently put it."

Leon sighed a breath of relief, feeling almost all of her muscles relax at the news. That did make her feel so much better about the situation. But there was still that hint of something that she could tell that the man wasn't telling her, and she didn't like that one bit.

"What's the catch?" she asked as she noted the slightly hesitant look on Dr. White's face.

"Well, I don't know if you're aware of this, but you're expecting."

Leon felt everything simply stop around her. There was a moment of blankness that enveloped her mind, and then there was the overwhelming shock.

"I'm…what?"

-;-

"_GODDAMNIT, I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM HER!" _

Fig cringed further back into the corner of the room as Epps drew himself up to his full height and bellowed. Idly, Ellie wondered if there were any non-military people staying at this particular hotel, considering that there would most likely be a great deal of complaints coming from them if there were. But that wasn't exactly the point that she wanted to focus on. There was a spark of indignation at her uncle's behavior, and then, as he moved towards Fig, she stepped into action.

"_LEAVE HIM ALONE!" _

"_DON'T YOU TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" _the elder roared at her, trying to shove her out of the way to get at Fig. However, Ellie was not one to be easily intimidated, and she shoved Epps right back, earning her half a foot of advantage.

"_THE SAME GOES FOR YOU! WHO ARE YOU TO DECIDE WHO I SPEND THE NIGHT WITH!? I'M NOT A LITTLE GIRL ANYMORE, ROBERT! I'M LEGAL! I CAN SLEEP WITH WHO I LIKE!"_

"_I'M TRYING TO KEEP YOU SAFE!" _

"_AND CHEWING OUT HIM IS GOING TO MAKE IT SO MUCH BETTER!" _she shrieked back at him, taking a step forward and jabbing a finger into his chest. _"YOU'RE NOT DAD! STOP TRYING TO ACT LIKE HIM!" _

"_ELINA EPPS, MOVE OUT OF MY WAY!" _

"_NO!" _

It wasn't going to be long until one of them snapped, and it wasn't going to be pretty when it happened. But considering that there wasn't much that anyone watching could do, it was going to be a matter of seconds before something undoable happened.

And there it was; a sharp crack pierced the din, and immediately, everything was silent.

Ellie cradled her cheek, looking shocked at what had just happened. Both Fig and Epps looked surprised as well, but Epps looked horror-struck in comparison to Fig. His hand, still hovering in the air, shook, and the dark skinned man moved forward.

"Ellie…"

"_Don't." _the mocha skinned woman hissed, taking a step back from him, gaze unmoving from his own. Her hand hovered gently above the steadily darkening skin on her cheek, and there was something glimmering in her eyes before she turned.

"Get out."

"Ellie." Epps protested, once again trying to get to his niece. He couldn't believe that he'd just done something like that! To his niece! To family!

"I said, _get out_." She spat, whirling and lashing out with a fist. It was by pure luck that Epps moved just out of reach, regret flashing through his eyes. But Ellie was clearly done with everything that this particular situation brought. With hard eyes, she advanced, the blanket wrapped around her form not doing much to cover the shaking of her chest and the quivering in her arms. "Before I make you."

Epps knew that he was very outgunned by the emotional young woman in front of him, but at the same time, there was so much regret that he could feel coursing through his veins. He could feel the tears beginning to sting the corners of his eyes, but slowly, he did as he had been ordered. Backing up slowly, he held up his palms in a defensive gesture until he was sure that Ellie wasn't going to attack before turning and stumbling out of the room, closing the door behind him.

He made it until he reached his own room before he allowed the tears to fall.

-;-

For the remainder of their weeklong stay in France, Ellie made a very pointed decision to avoid her uncle, taking great care to turn away should he enter a room, and God forbid if he tried to approach her. Somehow, the SRT had found out about the incident, and the mocha skinned woman wasn't without at least one escort at all times.

Marcus in particular was the more common of the trio that usually made up Ellie's usual bodyguards; Eliza, Lex, and himself. Fig was more of a companion than anything else, but even so, Ellie was making a small effort to avoid him at times as well.

The last day spent in France included the SRT taking the mocha skinned woman along with them as they headed directly for the Eiffel Tower; Lex was babbling something about Anastasia and Warner Brothers, while Marcus and Eliza simply wanted to see what kind of view they could get from the gigantic structure.

Needless to say, Ellie was primped up the day that they went out. Wearing a dark brown heavy fabric skirt that fell to her knees, a pair of fashionable black boots that went up to her knees and a vest-shirt in a pleasant light blue, she was stoked on being able to see such a magnificent landmark. And magnificent it was, as she found herself looking out over the horizon. She couldn't help but wonder if this was how the Autobots felt when they looked over the civilization that mingled around their feet.

But at the same time, there was a prickling that was unsettling her greatly. The mocha skinned woman couldn't help but feel as though there was something big about to happen, and she didn't know what that would mean for her now that she was an official member of NEST.

-;-

The plane rumbled around Ellie comfortingly as she carefully read through her newest medical journal; one that she had unearthed in a small antique shop on the way to the hotel on the third day of their stay. And since she was so intrigued by anything and everything to do with another's work, she'd just had to have the piece of history. Unfortunately, she couldn't read French, but the sketches that went along with the writing worked just as well as a language for the mocha skinned woman.

Glancing up from her seat among the SRT members, she had to smile softly at some of the childlike faces that a couple of the guys were displaying as they leaned against one another in sleep. The small clip on light that she currently had on her book was also enough to reflect slightly on the Hummer parked in front of her, Optimus' familiar form right in front of the Medic while Ironhide's large black one was right behind. The entire plane was dead silent, too, everyone either dozing or sound asleep. The night outside of the plane had taken hold of those within the belly of the machine, and Ellie seemed to be the only one who wasn't affected.

Sighing softly, she went back to reading (well, looking at the images) in her medical journal, not even noticing the slight flicker of headlights from the Hummer, already immersed in her journal.

-;-

The room was quiet.

The only sign of life that could be found could possibly be the huddle of blankets that was curled up in a ball on the floor, but even then, it was difficult to tell that there was actually a human being wrapped up in something that small. Then again, Leon was known to be one who could always fit into small spaces without much difficulty, and this was not one of the times she was to be exempt.

She was so. Fucking. Tired.

Groaning as the nausea began rolling over her again, Leon reluctantly shed her warmth in favor of making it to the bathroom before yet again hurling into the toilet. Actually, at this point, she'd named it Jim. Jim was a much better name for the fucking thing that would flush away her lunch, and her dinner, and whatever snack she wanted in the middle of the night. And let's not even get her started on everything else that was going on in her life.

She knew _exactly_ who the father was. After all, the times matched up with what her doctor had said, and Leon knew for sure that there had only been one person she'd slept with in the last six months. And his name happened to be _Alex_.

"I am going to castrate him," She snarled before choking and heaving again. "After I find every single one of his shoes and barf into them."

This led the brunette to continue muttering to herself all of the things that she was going to do to the male that had done this to her in between heaves, and it led to several rather dangerous ideas that the woman thought would be perfect revenge. She was going to teach that cocky, mangy, no good son of a bitch why not to mess with Leon Lans.


	36. The Start of the Unknown

_The secret to getting things done is to act._

_-Dante Alighieri_

-;-

_Earth. _

_Birthplace of the human race; a species much like our own. _

_Capable of great compassion. And…_

_Great violence._

_For in our quest to protect the humans, a deeper revelation dawns. _

_Our worlds have met before._

-;-

Ellie watched the events unfolding in Shanghai on her cellphone, the bustling around her all seeming a thousand miles away. Even though she and the rest of the team were currently at the Shanghai Airfield, it was an entirely different world that she was viewing through the small screen on her palm.

This was it.

Her first official mission out in the field with the rest of the NEST forces.

Taking a deep breath, she exhaled, doubling checking that she was wearing the appropriate uniform that she'd been given. It differed slightly from the main militias, where they wore either a dark green or black; she wore a black uniform with a white armband and a vest with a red emblem. It singled the mocha skinned woman out as the Medic of the team, and even though she knew that it was dangerous, she couldn't possibly think of that at the moment. She had to steady her nerves.

There would be bloodshed. Ellie knew that much about the war that waged between NEST and the Decepticons. It was cutting through their ranks ever so easily; terrifyingly so.

"You alright there, Ellie?" Graham asked as he passed by, clapping her on the shoulder gently.

"Yeah." She offered a wan smile in return. "Just trying to get my thoughts together."

Graham allowed himself a wry smile before nodding his head. "Yeah, we've all been there. It does get easier, though."

"Easier said for you, though." The mocha skinned woman pointed out. "I'm going to have to see people I know bleeding under my hands at one point."

"We've all done that, too." Graham returned before straightening as his name was called out. "I've got to get going; make sure everything and everyone is geared up. See you later."

Before Ellie could reply, the blond had already left, something else pulling his attention, someone else trying to ensure that everything was in place. She already knew that she wouldn't be on the same plane that everyone else would be on. She would be on Optimus' plane, making sure that nothing went wrong when he was to be dropped into the heart of the drop-zone. She would be the only one (next to Andy, who would be flying the giant aircraft), to make sure that she fulfilled her personal mission.

No pressure at all.

"_ALRIGHT! EVERYONE BOARD! WE'VE GOT THE GO!" _Lennox bellowed, gesturing everyone to get to their respective places. Whether it be in the choppers, planes, or various vehicles, everyone scattered, and Ellie quickly made her way over to the already waiting plane that held the Prime. As soon as she was on board, the back of the plane closed up, and she made her way over to the obvious seat that had been set up for her. A headset and a parachute awaited her, and she did as she'd been instructed to do. Grabbing the parachute, she made sure that it was securely next to her before flying through the harness, belting herself in and pulling on the headset. Immediately, she could hear everything going on.

Ratchet had really outdone himself on these headsets, she mused as the Chevy twins voices came over the frequency, taunting the Decepticons in a rather obvious manner.

"_-this one is toxic spill. They had to evac the area for Search and Rescue. This makes six enemy contacts in eight months, so we have got to make sure this one does not get out to public eyes so make it tight." _Will was saying curtly. Whether he was intentionally broadcasting or not, she didn't know, but it did bring some small sense of comfort to know that she had a way to make sure that everyone would be safe.

"_Move out! Let's go!" _she heard Marcus yell from his place with Arcee and the femmes.

"_Alright Ironhide, we got echoes. We're close." _

There was a moment of muted noise, and then there was the familiar sound of the mech transforming. It was fairly obvious that it was Ironhide who had transformed, too, considering that as soon as the sound of twisting metal stopped, there was a soft growl and then,

"_He's here. I smell him."_

"Elina."

The mocha skinned woman jumped at the unexpected tone coming from the Peterbilt parked next to her, and she felt her cheeks flush with some embarrassment.

"Yeah Boss?" she asked curiously.

"Do not worry needlessly. They will be fine." Optimus assured softly, though the very sound of his voice was enough to cause the metal of the plane to vibrate lightly. "All of the men out there have done well so far. I see no reason why it will not continue tonight."

"I'm just worried, is all." Ellie returned quietly. "This is my first time being out in the war like this, _any_ war like this, as a matter of fact. I'm just feeling like there's more that I could be doing then just making sure that nothing goes wrong up here. Not that that's a bad thing or anything!" she babbled, feeling more and more like an idiot as she continued on.

A low chuckle came from Optimus, and her fears were momentarily soothed.

"Do not think that I am annoyed with you, Elina. I feel the same thing whenever I must leave my mechs out in the field for any length of time as well. It is one of our faults, as sentient beings. We worry about things that we do not possibly have any control over."

There was a more comfortable silence for a moment as Ellie digested this new information, and then she nodded reluctantly.

"I guess you're right. Thanks, Boss." She finally stated with a hesitant smile.

"You are most welcome, Elina." He rumbled in return before falling silent. Taking this as her queue, Ellie returned to listening in on the goings on that were happening on the ground.

"_Oh no."_

"_What do we got?" _

There was her uncle's voice, followed by Will's. There had to be something going on that wasn't good, because a moment later, there was a grim answer.

"_Thermal ripple." _

"_Alright everybody. Be steady…we're right on top of him."_

There was dead silence.

And then the sound of something exploding, transforming. Panicked yells echoed loudly into the headset, but Ellie found herself horrified, frozen to her seat as she frantically sifted through all of the voices that were now screaming. She couldn't hear anyone that she recognized.

Will's voice suddenly came through, but Ellie couldn't understand a word that the man was saying over the sounds of something heavy repeatedly hitting the ground and the sounds of gunfire.

"_Panther One, requesting fire permission NOW!" _

"_We got a second Decepticon." _

"_Arcee! Target coming your way!" _Will yelled hoarsely.

"_I got 'im, I got 'im!" _one of the Chevy twins said over the line.

"_Like Pit you're getting away!" _Ellie heard Chromia snarl. She could imagine the blue femme charging up her cannons and tearing after the mystery Decepticon already.

"_Arcee! Flareup! Head him off!" _

"_Yes ma'am!" _

"_Already on it!"_

Ellie listened raptly to the femmes, wondering who else was going after the second Decepticon. She hadn't heard anything from the other pair of twins, Prowl, or Ratchet either, and she wondered if they were alright.

"_I screwed dat up. I'm okay. I'm alright." _She thought she heard one of the Chevy twins grunt after the sound of metal scraping along cement filtered over the link.

"_Dis is combat, man! Whats' wrong wit' you?" _the other twin snapped over his brother muttering something about 'brainfreeze'.

"_Bring in Sideswipe and Sunstreaker!" _

A second later, Sideswipe's familiar curt voice could be heard, along with Sunstreaker's muttered curses that seemed to be highly insulting to his twin.

"_Clear a path!"_

"_Damn, we're good."_

Noises were blasting by at astronomical speeds, and it was difficult to tell if the Decepticon had been taken out or not, but judging by the tone that Sideswipe was boasting, the mocha skinned woman would say so.

But there was still the matter of the other Decepticon. There had been little speaking from Will's end of the fight, and it was beginning to unnerve Ellie. Around her, she felt the plane begin to bank, changing course in favor of going towards a different target.

"_Air Support, we need Big Buddha delivered to drop now!" _Epps ordered.

Ellie unharnessed herself and moved over to the controls mounted on the wall that she would be using to open the back of the plane. As Optimus started up his engine, she slammed her palm against the button that immediately began to lower the ramp that the Prime needed to drive off of into empty space.

"Drop in five. Four. Three. Two. One." She counted down, hearing her voice magnified over the headset. Waving to Optimus, the Peterbilt revved his engine and rolled off of the ramp. Ellie watched with some fascination as his blue and red painted form contorted in the air, freefalling towards the skyscrapers and highways that littered the ground below.

Andy moved the plane again, wheeling, beginning to move towards some other destination that only he knew, and Ellie retracted the ramp, the giant sheet of metal closing off her view of the carnage below.

"_Autobots. I am in pursuit." _Optimus joined into the myriad of voices that flowed over one another and mixed into a symphony of white noise that completely baffled the mocha skinned woman listening in. How did the guys manage to live with this kind of distraction while out in the field? This was near overwhelming for her!

"_Pull over!"_

There was a moment's hesitation, and then another loud screech of protesting metal, and the sounds of Autobots transforming.

"_Punk-ass Decepticon." _Ironhide snorted.

"_Any last words?" _Optimus asked dangerously.

"_This is not your planet to rule. The Fallen shall rise again." _Came an unfamiliar voice that caused shivers to run down Ellie's spine.

"_That doesn't sound good." _someone muttered in the background. Ellie couldn't quite tell who it was who had said it, however.

"_Not today." _Optimus promised.

A second later, a cannon fired.

-;-

There was a somber silence as the planes touched back down in Diego Garcia. Ellie automatically knew and understood that someone (or more) had died during the Shanghai operation.

"_Autobot twins report to hangar three." _Someone stated over the intercom. As to why, Ellie wasn't entirely sure, but at seeing the pair of the twins in the form of an ice-cream truck, it began to make sense. But as to why the pair of them needed to be an ice-cream truck for this mission, she hadn't a clue. They would have been fine as they were. But then again, it would also make it easier for her to add a couple more dents to the already dented surface for all the misery that the pair of those bastards had put her through since her arrival on the base.

Grabbing her gear, the mocha skinned woman carefully made her way off the plane, looking for all of the people on her mental list of friends and/or family. Even though she and her uncle were in a bit of a stalemate, it didn't mean that she wanted to see him dead, and as for everyone else…well, she just needed confirmation that they were okay.

But as the SRT came off the plane, Ellie's heart sank at seeing that there was no Michael or Grady or Lance or Jeff with the team. She could see Ryan helping Lex off the plane, the petite blond curled in on herself, Marcus and Eliza and Andy not looking much better. There was no doubt about who this mission had taken away from NEST.

Automatically, the mocha skinned woman moved to meet the exhausted looking small group, and at seeing the utterly defeated look in Eliza's eye, pulled the other woman into a tight hug. She could tell, had been able to tell, how close knit that the SRT was, and if the majority of the team had been taken out by this mission, it meant that an entire chunk of their family had been removed from them.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

The sound of a helicopter overwhelmed whatever the other woman said in return, and everyone paused in saluting the caskets being brought off the plane for a moment to see what was going on before going back to what they had been doing. Ellie remained next to Eliza and Marcus, offering her own support in what she could, joining them in saluting the men who had died during this part of the war. Unfortunately, Ellie had a gut instinct that was telling her that there would be a great number more before this war was won, and she couldn't help but feel tears pricking at her eyes as she wondered who would be taken away next.


	37. Home

_Illusion is the first of all pleasures. _

_-Voltaire_

-;-

"-But last night's encounter came with a warning." Optimus was saying as Ellie and the remainder of the SRT moved into the main hangar. There was some pompous looking man wearing a well-tailored suit and a pair of thin rimmed glasses watching Optimus speak to who Ellie assumed was the higher ups at the Pentagon, but she didn't say anything as she herded the group over towards the Autobots.

"_The Fallen shall rise again."_

"_The Fallen. Meaning what." _Came the tinny answer over the speakers up on the platform in front of Optimus.

"Origin unknown. The only recorded history of our race was contained within the Allspark. Lost with its destruction."

"Excuse me!" the man in the suit called out suddenly from the ground, gaining everyone's attention. Optimus turned to face whoever was calling for his attention, and Ellie could tell that the Autobot leader was wondering the same thing that everyone else was; who was this guy?

"With this so called, 'Allspark' now destroyed, why hasn't the enemy left the planet, like you thought they would?" the man asked, beginning to climb up the provided ladder to get up to the platform in order to become eye level with the Prime.

"Director Galloway. The National Security Director. The President just appointed him liaison." Will said with a roll of his eyes to whoever was on the other end of the screen.

"_Well I guess I didn't get that memo." _

"Forgive the interruption, General. Excuse me, coming through." The now titled Galloway muttered, pushing through several men, including Graham. Ellie found herself resisting the urge to charge after this moron and get him off of Diego Garcia as soon as physically possible.

"After all the damage in Shanghai, the President is, uh, hard pressed to say the job's getting done." The man stated sarcastically as he faced the camera. "Now, under the Classified Alien Autobot Cooperation Act, you agreed to share your intel with us. But not your advancements in weaponry."

"We've witnessed your human capacity for war. It would absolutely bring more harm than good." Optimus said calmly, bringing one of his fingers very close to Galloway's form in a point.

"But who are you to judge what's best for us?" Galloway asked snidely, leaning against the railing.

At this point, Ellie had given up on playing nice, and was now being physically restrained by Marcus and Eliza. The mocha skinned woman couldn't believe what she was hearing from this arrogant prick's mouth! Who was he to come prancing in and question everything that NEST had done so far to protect the population of the planet from the Decepticons? In her opinion, they'd done a damn fine job, considering everything that continued to cause problems for the Autobots. This was exactly the reason that she'd wanted to become a liaison in the first place! So that NEST wouldn't have to deal with asshole's like this moron!

"With all due respect, we've been fighting side by side in the field for two years." Will interjected, giving Galloway a slightly hard look.

"We've shared blood, sweat and precious metal together." Her uncle added, patting Optimus' pede quickly.

"Soldier. You're paid to shoot. Not talk."

"Don't tempt me." Epps growled under his breath, though the words carried quite well to those around him, including Ellie. A savage surge of approval washed over her, and then she pressed it down. It would be so much more satisfying if it were her doing the shooting. No one would ever expect the CMO to go after the liaison, after all.

"Easy." Optimus gestured lightly at Epps as the man began to walk away, no doubt to cool his head.

"Now. The newest members of your team. I understand they arrived here after you sent out a message into space. An open invitation; come to Earth! Vetted by no one at the White House." Galloway continued.

"Calm down, Elina. You'll do nothing good by causing any trouble right now." Eliza hissed into the mocha skinned woman's ear. "And I swear to God, if you cause any trouble to me or Marcus right now, I have no qualms about handing you over to Robert."

Just like that, Ellie found the fight just drained out of her. The full implications of everything that had happened in the last twenty four hours hit her like a tidal wave; leaving her struggling to stay afloat in the aftermath.

Relaxing in their grip, Ellie carefully pried herself away from the pair of them, and although wary, they let her go.

"I'll see you later. I can't stay here right now." She said dully before shooting Galloway a glare and making her way out of the hangar. She needed to talk to someone, and there was only one person Ellie could think of at the moment that she needed to talk to more than anything else.

-;-

It was still dark in the room; the clock next to the bed read _3: 56. _

The phone rang.

Persistent, it continued to ring for a full three seconds before a calloused hand snatched at it sleepily and held it up to an ear.

"Hello?"

"_Daddy." _The voice on the other end of the line sniffled.

Liam Epps sat straight up in bed, all traces of sleep gone as he listened to the faint sounds of his daughter crying.

"Ellie? Honey, what's wrong?" he asked soothingly, turning on the light so that he would actually be able to stay awake instead of dozing off halfway through what he could tell was going to be a difficult conversation.

"_I- they're gone, daddy." _Ellie's voice whispered pathetically back to him. _"I went to Shanghai and I wasn't there and I could have done something if I was there, and Uncle Rob and I had a fight and I just don't know what to do!" _

Liam sighed. He knew that Ellie would eventually have to go through this part of the war, and although he knew that it was very necessary, he had to be honest with Ellie.

"Honey, you knew that when you signed up for this that you would lose someone. Probably more than just someone." He reminded gently. "I'm not going to tell you to come home, but it is your choice, and I will never be disappointed in you if you think you're not strong enough to do it."

"_It's not that. I just didn't think that it would be so soon." _Ellie replied with another sniff. Liam could already tell that she'd been crying for a good solid ten minutes already, and idly, he couldn't help how much more she would before she managed to pick herself up and carry on.

"Ellie, sweetie, that's war. There's not a lot that we can do to change the outcome of the war. We just do our best and hope that nothing goes horribly wrong so that we don't lose more people that we care about." He soothed, hoping that his flawed advice would help his daughter calm down, if only fractionally.

"_I know. But…I need to come home. I need to see you and Leon before I can do anything else over here, daddy." _

Liam's heartstrings were being pulled, alright. He could tell that his little girl needed to come home and be with him for a while, if only for a day. He needed to hug and hold her and tell her how much he loved her, because he didn't know when the next time he would see her would be. It was a game of chance that the men in the army played, one that he knew all too well.

And it was only a matter of time before something very bad happened to Ellie.

-;-

The alarms blared, jolting Ellie out of a dead sleep and causing her to immediately tear out into the hall. People and Autobots alike were moving around like ants with a purpose, and all the mocha skinned woman could do was go where she was directed.

Unfortunately, the best that anyone could do for the confused woman was to tell her to get to the Med Bay and get ready for incoming wounded.

The good thing was, Ellie was completely ready for this, and ran down the hall in her pajamas to the Med Bay, somehow managing to avoid everyone who got in her path with little effort. The less fortunate thing was that she now had to get ready to work on the injured men that she didn't even know what happened to.

As soon as she walked through the doors of her Med Bay, Ellie turned into a one woman hurricane of motion. She grabbed a pair of medical gloves and put them between her teeth for a moment while she tied her hair back into a knot, then pulled them over her fingers. Pulling over her tools and various instruments, she then waited next to her operating tables, separated by a thin wall to the rest of her Med Bay.

-;-

By the next morning, it was very clear that Ellie was in no position to be working. At all. She was tired, emotionally exhausted, and it was basically a silent plea to Will that she take time off to gather her wits before the mocha skinned woman was good to go again.

Luckily enough for her, Will was already planning on sending Ellie back to the States for some time off anyway. Not only was she in desperate need of some time with her father, but it was also the fact that her six month time span was up. She now had a week with her family before coming back for another six months.

"Ellie!" he called, jogging to catch up with the woman as she shuffled down the hall, a small cup of coffee held in her shaky grip. He couldn't blame her for having such a hard time now. Some of the wounds on the men that had been brought in from the breach at the centre where the last piece of Allspark was being kept had been some truly horrifying ones. And the fact that she had managed to make it through the entire night without a single complaint was another miracle in itself.

The mocha skinned woman turned slightly, but that was it. She continued moving, her hand still shaking as she held the coffee.

"Hey." He said gently as he caught a glimpse of her face. His paternal instincts were already screaming at him to take her somewhere where she couldn't hurt herself any longer, couldn't be hurt by anything else around them. "How are you holding up?"

"I-" she started before biting her lip. "I need to get out of here for a while."

"That's why I came to find you, Ellie." Will stated. "You're headed over to the States with Optimus and a couple other Autobots. They need to talk to Witwicky about vouching for them if it comes down to it."

"Home?" Ellie asked. The sudden relief that Will saw cross her features made him feel slightly guilty. He supposed he should have let the woman know that this wasn't something that she couldn't visit home for. She just couldn't tell anyone else what she did in her line of work. Besides, there were some very awkward situations he could name off the top of his mind by her possibly revealing anything to her family.

"Yeah. You get a week off, considering you've been here for six months. That's our schedule around here. We should have told you sooner."

No sooner had the words left his lips than he was being hugged by a suddenly teary eyed Ellie.

"Thank you." She whimpered, shaking.

"Hey, no problem." Will said gently, automatically beginning to rub circles in between her shoulder blades. "Go grab your things. The plane leaves in a half hour."

-;-

"Starscream. I'm home."

The name was said with so much venom it was a miracle that the mech being addressed wasn't immediately turned to rust.

The mech himself, all sharp angles and wings, appeared out of nowhere, moving into a kneeling position at the Decepticon leader's pedes.

"Lord Megatron! I was so relieved to hear of your resurrection." He simpered.

"You left me to _die_ on that pathetic insect planet." Megatron growled warningly, raising the smaller mech's faceplates with a wicked looking claw.

"Only to spawn our new army! The Fallen decrees it! After all, in your absence, someone had to take command." Starscream protested, sensing that his spark was going to be ripped from its casing and the contents crushed beneath the much larger mech's pede. However, rather than that, a heavily armored leg lashed out, kicking the smaller mech into a glowing blue pod before lunging forward and pinning the smaller flier to it.

"So disappointing." He rumbled darkly.

"Hatchlings! Hatchlings! Careful fragile!" Starscream chittered, squirming lightly under the harsh servo wrapped around his throat.

"Even in death there is no one in command but mine."

One of the sacs burst, and a tiny, chirruping hatchling fell to the ground, gurgling and whining pathetically as it fell limp.

-;-

"My master, I have failed you on Earth." Megatron said as he knelt down onto one knee. "The Allspark is destroyed, and without it, our race will perish."

"Oh, you have much to learn, my disciple." A wiry frame rumbled, stirring from its position among a metal alcove. Sharp, precise fragments framed the mech's faceplates, and a pair of startlingly crimson optics stared out balefully at its surroundings. "The Cube was merely a vessel. It's power, it's knowledge, can never be destroyed. It can only be transformed."

"How is that possible?" Megatron demanded, a dark curiosity gleaming within his own red optics.

"It has been absorbed by the human child. The key to saving our race now lies within his mind."

"Well then, let me strip the very flesh from his body."

"And you will, my apprentice. In time. For millennia, I have dreamed of my return to that wretched planet, where I too, was once betrayed by the Primes I called my brothers. Only a Prime can defeat me, and now, only one remains."

"Optimus." Megatron realized. "He protects the boy."

"Then the boy will lead us to him, and revenge will be ours."

"Yes…"


	38. Fall of the Giants

_Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards. _

_-Soren Kierkegaard_

-;-

As soon as the plane touched down and everything unloaded, Ellie was displaying the most nervousness that she could ever recall in her life. Every small noise was loud enough to be another patient being brought in, and there were yells of all kinds around her that very nearly caused her to have an emotional breakdown right there in the middle of the airport.

By the time that she reached the exit to her plane area, she was very nearly in tears. At seeing her father waiting for her, she finally let them out and rushed into his waiting arms, just letting everything out. It was something that she very desperately needed, and Liam knew all too well that what Ellie had gone through would be sticking with her for a very long time.

-;-

By the time that Ellie and Liam arrived back at his small home out in the less populated area of Philadelphia, the mocha skinned woman was dozing fitfully, twitching and murmuring something unintelligible every couple of minutes. Liam recognized the behavior as something that he used to do, still did from time, and felt useless in the fact that he knew that there was nothing he could do for his daughter.

Shaking the dark haired girl he still knew to be his little one, Liam retreated quickly as Ellie darted upright, breathing ragged.

"Come on, sweetheart. Let's get you settled in and then we'll go for an early dinner." The dark skinned male said soothingly, moving around the small car to open Ellie's door for her. "You can even call Leon from the landline before we head out, if you need to."

"Thanks, daddy." Ellie murmured, pecking her father on the cheek as she moved around to the back of the car to grab her single bag of clothing and various other items that she needed for the duration of her stay.

"It's no problem, honey." Liam replied before heading over to the front door and unlocking it. "So, what do you feel like tonight? Chinese or Thai?"

-;-

"_OW! THAT'S MY EYE, YOU CRAZY BITCH!" _

"You gonna talk now?" Mikaela Banes asked dangerously, tilting her head to one side as she pinned the tiny Decepticon to an unidentified piece of metal that vaguely looked as though it should belong in a large truck of some kind.

" Ow ow ow. I seek knowledge from the Cube. The Fallen _demands_ me!" the mech blurted out, hoping in some small part of his tiny little processor that it would keep him from being roasted to a tiny little pile of scrapmetal.

"What knowledge." The brunette hissed.

"You got the shard I need the shard gimme the shard. They're gonna whack me I'm gonna be dead without that shard!" The small blue and silver Decepticon rambled desperately, giving up on trying to place his shattered optic back where it belonged in favor of trying to simply tell the freaking woman what he wanted.

Mikaela wasn't amused, struggling to keep the clamp around the wriggling metal form that was a lot heavier than she would have expected it to be, despite the small size.

"Easy Warrior Goddess! I'm just a little salvage scrap drone!"

"And I'm your worst nightmare." The young woman snarled before dumping the Decepticon into a toolbox, ignoring his pained yelps, and slammed and locked the lid.

"_What the hell was that?" _Sam demanded as she picked up her cellphone again.

"I'll tell you later, just not on an open phone line, okay? I'm gonna get on a plane right now and I'll be there later this afternoon. Just be careful, Sam." She said warily, glancing around the mechanic shop as though something else was about to grow teeth and attempt to kill her.

-;-

It was still too busy for Leon to be doing anything productive, in her opinion.

The brunette hadn't even bothered to look at a clock, and even though there was light coming in through the closed blinds, she barely even had the urge to look outside and find out what the weather was like. After all, it wasn't like she was about to go anywhere. She was still nice and holed up at home, on sick leave for a couple more days, plotting more ways that she could make Alex's life a living hell for getting her pregnant.

Groaning, she carefully lowered herself into her armchair, wishing suddenly that she had Ellie sitting across from her on the rather comfortable second-hand leather couch, reading one of her journals or simply making fun of her for her klutziness. It wasn't fair that she was stuck here while her best friend was practically around the world in what could be called the middle of nowhere.

She let out a loud sigh, wondering what on earth she was going to do, when the phone rang. Frowning suddenly, the brunette reached for the mobile device, noting that the number was strangely familiar but unable to be placed to a name just yet.

"Hello?"

"_Leon." _

Leon nearly fell out of her chair in disbelief.

Ellie.

Ellie was calling her. The very same person that she had just been thinking about, calling her on a whim. God, the world just loved screwing with her mind, didn't it?

"Ellie?" she asked in disbelief, realizing that the tone that her friend had just used wasn't her usual cheery default one that she used while speaking with Leon over the phone. It sounded much…older than it usually did.

"_I- I needed to talk to you." _Came the soft reply. A moment later, Leon could have sworn that she heard a muffled sob over the line.

"Ellie, what's wrong?" the brunette asked, suddenly worried about the mocha skinned woman's state. Had something happened? Well, obviously. She doubted that Ellie would call her otherwise. "What happened?"

"_I lost some friends, Leon. We had a mission, and they just-" _Ellie paused, and Leon could once again hear the sounds of her friend sobbing on the other end of the phone. It took a good long moment before there came another reply, but Leon wasn't about interrupt anything. She would still be hear, still willing to listen to whatever the woman had to say.

"_They're dead. And I know that there's nothing I could do about it. I wasn't with their division for the mission. I was up in the planes, working on dropping off cargo." _

Ah. This is what that was. Ellie was feeling guilty about something that she couldn't even control. Mind, Leon had a pretty good idea that if she were in the same position as her friend, she would be acting the exact same way, so there wasn't really anything she could say that would make the situation better.

Well, actually…

"Ellie, I'm pregnant."

-;-

"Major! Incoming SOS from Autobots!"

"Multiple Decepticon contacts in motion! Vicinity eastern United States, sir!"

"As in how many?" the General asked as he entered the private room in the Pentagon. The cameras were already connected to NEST base, and as he entered, info barreled into him like a wave.

"Unclear, sir." One of the men replied respectfully, though every inch of his body was screaming of nervousness. It wasn't difficult to see why.

"Well get clear." Came the curt reply.

-;-

"Autobots on the move. Splitting into two teams, sir." A soldier reported quickly.

"They're not answering our calls. Seem to be heading towards New York and Philadelphia." Another man alerted the Major as he came over to see what was going on.

"I want full weapons deployment." Will ordered calmly, backing away from the screen displaying the information of where the Autobots were headed before making his way back into the mess of people moving around. "Wheels up in twenty minutes!"

-;-

"Sam, I knew there was something special about you." Alice said softly as she turned away from the door to the room. Slowly, she sauntered forward, looking exactly like some kind of cat hunting its prey.

"Really?" the teen asked warily, moving around the smaller blond girl.

"And I know you know what happens when two people in a room get together." She continued, slamming the Witwicky up against the door that was a barrier between his and Leo's and the couple of guys next door. Her gaze seemed slightly off, deranged even, if he had to place his finger on it, but there wasn't much that he could do about it.

"They're genuinely amazing in bed." She whispered.

"Whoa! Alright!" Sam protested as Alice shoved him down onto the small bed that belonged to him. "Listen- hold on- boundaries, come into play, okay. I'm very ticklish."

The poor teen held up his hands defensively at Alice as she suddenly straddled him, her weight suddenly seeming to be a bit more than he thought it should given that she didn't look more than a hundred pounds at the best of times.

"We have me, Sam. _Relax!"_ Alice hissed.

"Wah! Geez." The male was now beginning to feel as though there was something really wrong going on here now, but once again, all persistence was futile as the tiny blond pinned him to the bed with the ferocity of a striking snake. "Uh, what about this economy? It's crazy, isn't it?" he stalled, turning his head away. If Mikaela ever saw this, she would blow a gasket!

"You are very aggressive." He muttered as Alice's arm tightened against his chest. Unnoticed by the Witwicky, a long, metal tail uncurled from underneath the ridiculously short blue dress that Alice sported, its tip flaring out into deadly looking spikes.

"Just relax."

"You want some turkey meatloaf?" Sam asked, now very desperate to get out of this very awkward situation. Why was it always him that somehow managed to get stuck in things like this!?

Before anything could be done, however, the door opened, revealing Mikaela.

"Sam?" she asked, smile instantly vanishing from her face as she watched Alice press her lips against Sam's own.

"Mikaela." Sam very nearly whimpered as he broke away from the unexpected contact.

"Is that your girlfriend?" Alice asked innocently, dark eyes half lidded with some unidentifiable emotion. Smugness, perhaps.

"Uh huh."

"Ex." Mikaela corrected, features stony as she walked away from the doorway.

"Mikaela!" Sam objected, finally able to scrabble out from under Alice's weight, stumbling for the door. "Wait! I can explain everythin-"

Unfortunately for Sam, Alice's tongue was suddenly a very long metal appendage that was now tightly wound around his neck, choking the oxygen out of his lungs. With a savage yank, Sam was thrown onto a lamp, which toppled over, and into the wall behind it. He was then thrown to the other side of the room entirely, smashing into the television that was there and cracking the screen rather spectacularly.

With an inhuman snarl, 'Alice' whipped her tongue viciously, causing Sam to once again be airborne, and managed to get him to land heavily on the edge of the same television that he'd just had his head get acquainted with.

This also happened to gain Mikaela's attention from down the hall. She could hear the yelps and crashes as well as the next person, and she speed walked back towards the room, walking in to see Sam lying on the floor and 'Alice' crouched on the bed, abnormally long tongue still around Sam's neck.

Ignoring the frantic yelling from Leo, Mikaela's face twisted into a dark glare, and as her tongue retreated back into her mouth, she hefted the large toolbox she'd kept with her and hurled it across the room. Sam suddenly began screaming as his oxygen returned to him, and he retreated with as much grace as he possibly could in that situation, slamming the door behind him as the toolbox went through the window.

"She's an alien robot, you've gotta move!" Sam yelled at Leo as he, Mikaela and the Spanish teen all ran across the campus towards the library.

"Is she real!?"

"Just run!"

-;-

"Hey Ellie, we've got a problem."

"Define problem." The mocha skinned woman asked, suddenly far more serious than she had been seconds earlier. She and Liam had gone out to a very cozy Chinese restaurant, and it had lifted her spirits higher than she thought possible considering what she had just gone through back at NEST.

"How close are you to Princeton right now?" the Major asked casually, though in the background it was rather easy to hear all of the voices of various people.

"What's wrong, Lennox?" she asked curtly, all niceties discarded. She wasn't in the mood for this crap, she really wasn't.

"Sam's in trouble and the nearest backup we've got is twenty minutes away. You know, Bumblebee's ward?" Will told her honestly.

"Goddamnit." she snarled, causing her father to look over at her with concern. "I'm on it, Will. Which team's closest?"

"Optimus'."

"Thank fucking God." She snarled. Decepticons going after people here, where she was trying to get away from all the bullshit! Who did they think they were? If she got her hands on any of Flareup's explosives, they were going to be in a world of hurt!

"Honey, what's going on?" her dad asked from the passenger seat. It was the first thing that he'd actually verbalised so far in the thirty second conversation that was occurring, and as Ellie glanced over, she noticed that he was wearing his unamused, 'Ellie's in deep shit' face.

"Ellie, is your dad with you?" Will asked carefully.

"No shit, Will. You did send me over here for a week to be with my dad." She snarked, glancing over her shoulder before swerving in front of a fancier looking red car. The driver slammed on her horn, and Ellie replied by flipping her the bird before turning her attention back to the phone.

"Debrief him. We're gonna need all the help we can get." Will said grimly.

"I had better be getting a fucking raise for this." she snarled before hanging up. Checking the traffic again, Ellie swerved once more, entering the other lane of traffic and heading back the way they'd just come.

"Dad, you know how I've been overseas doing that medical work?" she asked offhandedly, checking over her shoulder before switching lanes, the speedometer steadily climbing. "Yeah, that was partial bullshit. I originally went over there to accept a liaison position."

"Liaison?" Liam blinked. "Yeah, I think I remember you mentioning something like that."

"Yep. And you want to know what the best fucking part about that was?" she muttered before slamming on the brakes as she spotted a helicopter overhead. From her position, she could clearly see the Decepticon symbol embossed on the bottom. And from the looks of things, the target was headed right towards her.

"Elina.." Liam said in concern, his hand reaching out to touch her shoulder. She could tell that he thought she was bat-shit insane at the moment. After all, if the roles were reversed (and they had been at one point), she would be thinking the exact same thing.

"Giant robots, dad." she snapped, just as another shadow fell over the car.

There wasn't any time to move, or blink, or do anything, really. The jet simply swooped out of the sky, and moments later, hooks dug into the roof and the back of the car.

"Son of a bitch!" she growled, leaning out the window to look up at their capturer. She recognized the mech from the pictures she'd been shown, but she had no idea why she would be targeted. She was just the fucking CMO of the humans! That was it! Besides, how did it even know which vehicle had her in it?

Farther off in the distance, the helicopter was dragging a silver car, from which three figures were moving around frantically. One appeared to be hanging onto the car door as he tried not to fall to his death. Probably Sam, if the reports on the kid were to be believed.

She watched in horror, Liam doing the same, as they were flowing over what appeared to be a river, headed towards a more industrial looking area. As their own vehicle grew closer to the factory that they were apparently being taken to, Ellie's eyes widened in horror as she realized that the helicopter had dropped the silver car. It freefell into the top of the factory, and with a sinking stomach realized that the same thing was about to happen to her and her father.

"Dad, hold on." she said in a slightly higher pitch, clutching at anything that could brace their own fall.

"Elina Rosa Epps, I want a full explanation! _Right! Now!"_ Liam demanded, though he did so as his daughter was telling him. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that something bad was about to happen.

"I'd love to, but we are going to fucking die, dad!" she screeched back, panicking as the factory loomed closer and closer.

And then, they were freefalling.

Screaming, Ellie tried to keep herself from heaving up her lunch, while her father was silent. Probably in shock, if she really had to guess.

There was a moment of silence, whistling air coming in through the open windows, and then there was the ground.

The airbags deployed, slamming into her chest and face, further confusing the mocha skinned woman of the world around her. In the background, she could hear screams and yells, and then the sound of metal being ripped apart.

Moments later, she found herself looking up into the face of a very nasty looking mech, his red optics boring into her own eyes. Her father next to her was limp in the mech's hands, and she found herself yelling something. She didn't know what- she could feel her ears bleeding from the impact.

She could understand, however, that this was not going to end well.

"You remember me, don't you?" a low voice rumbled.

"I'll do what you said, okay? Just don't hurt her!" Sam was saying to another mech, one that she recognized all too clearly. She'd seen a great many images of this mech, each one of them not meaning anything good for her. She knew exactly what this Decepticon was capable of by listening to the horror stories that the Autobots told, Jolt and Ratchet's particularly horrifying, though Prowl's was fairly high on the list as well.

"Silence!" Megatron roared, slamming his arm into the stairs that Sam had been slowly moving down, sending the male flying with a howl. Moments later, he was pinned to a concrete slab, and then Ellie was grabbed by another mech.

She took one look at the distance between her and Sam and suddenly got a very bad feeling.

Scrabbling for a hold, she desperately tried to hold on to the mechs fingers, but was unable to. With a yelp, she was falling through the air, before landing on a beam jutting out from the wall and sliding to the ground, still a good several feet up.

Winded, in pain, and still disoriented, she pulled herself to her feet with difficulty, retching dryly. Everything was spinning around her; the walls seemed to have lives of their own as she struggled to stand.

There was some kind of conversation going on with Megatron and Sam, but Ellie barely focused on them. No, it was her father, being dangled above her tauntingly, that she was concerned about now. It was the one thing that she was able to focus on now.

"Let him go!" she shrieked, fear blossoming in her chest.

She could tell that the mech was smirking at her, and she grew cold in horror. Somehow, she just knew what was about to happen next, and everything in her told her that it was nothing good.

"Femme! Come here!" Megatron suddenly snapped, causing her to jump. With wide eyes, Ellie whimpered, turning, no doubt looking like she'd just been hit by a truck. She certainly felt like she'd been hit by a truck, the way her legs were shaking. Hesitantly, she moved closer to the large mech- Fuck, he was as big as Optimus- and then stilled as the huge Decepticon loomed closer to her, his grip not moving from Sam.

"Hmm..yes, you will do well as an experiment." he mused. "You will get the information from this boy, or there will be…casualties."

"N-No." she stammered, looking at Sam's pained eyes for a moment. "I w-won't."

"Such determination. Very well. Starscream."

"_NO!"_ she screamed, but the damage was already done.

With a sickening crunch, her father's body was crushed beneath the heavy fingers of the Decepticon. Crimson flashed in the light from the windows, but Ellie couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. She didn't dare move as the limp body of the man she called father was carelessly tossed down, blood blooming out from his body like a gruesome flower.

She felt her knees give out beneath her, but she ignored the pain, reaching out to touch her him, tears streaming down her face. There was a choked gasp from someone above, probably the other two that had been with Sam, but she ignored it.

One of her arms was stinging, but she pumped desperately against his chest anyway. She had to damn well try to bring him back. It was the only thing that drove her then, the only thing that could possibly make her think of anything other than the mind numbing pain that was coursing through her.

Explosions.

They rocked the factory, and seconds later there was a pressure on her arm. Hissing, she whirled, barely able to think, not knowing what to do, and found herself being dragged away through the smog and noise in a daze. The world was once again spinning wildly out of control, and as soon as she realized she was outside, she was nearly heaved up into Optimus' cab. The seatbelt snapped over her chest, but she ignored it. She could feel the speed of the truck, could feel the engine rumbling powerfully through the seats, but continued to stare blankly at the hand that was being waved in front of her face.

The mocha skinned woman knew that she was very badly injured, and should probably try to do something about it, but there was just not anything she could do about it. Her head was pounding, and it was more than enough to keep her from doing much else other than cringing away from the other sounds around her.

She felt herself being thrown from the cab, felt someone, maybe Sam, maybe someone else, dragging her along, but she was numb to it all. There was running involved, too, though that passed by in a blur to the mocha skinned woman. Everything was out of normality for her. Sooner rather than later, she found herself trembling against a fallen tree, watching through glazed eyes the battle that took place overhead. Optimus and Megatron, their energon and blades whirling through the air, moved like a movie that was permanently fixed on fast forward, their movements far too swift for her to try and keep up with. Instead, she leaned her head forward, hoping for the best that she could be rescued from this Hell that she suddenly found herself sucked right into the centre of.

And then there was a mechanical roar as a blade was plunged through Optimus' chest. Ellie heard screaming- hers or someone else's, she didn't know. But she did know that there were large, dangerous mechs surrounding her and that she had to find a way to get out of her 'hiding place' without being killed herself.

And suddenly there were servos around her, cradling her against warmth that simply radiated peace. Weakly, she whimpered as she felt a prick against her flesh, and then everything simply faded away from reality.


	39. Back at the Base

_Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can._

_-Arthur Ashe_

-;-

"That went well." Megatron rumbled from the top of a building, Starscream landing opposite the imposing Decepticon leader.

"We've…lost the boy, master." The other flier said hesitantly, shifting his currently unattached arm in nervousness. "The Autobots must be shielding their signals."

"I can't even rely on you. What a simple insect!" Megatron snarled, suddenly grabbing Starscream by the helm and hurling him down to the roof of the building. In a rage, he kicked at the Seeker's side, earning several muffled yelps and groaned words.

"Shut up." Megatron growled scornfully, slamming his pede down onto Starscream's midsection.

"It could be anywhere!"

"Then we will force them to find it for us. It's time for the world to know of our presence. No more disguises. No _mercy_. The time has come for my master's arrival." The much larger Decepticon growled, moving around restlessly. His clawed servos shifted, the digits clenching and unclenching as Megatron tilted his helm back to look up at the sky.

-;-

Ellie woke with a muffled shriek.

Her heart pounding, she threw herself up with a force she didn't know she possessed, only to nearly pass out again with the pain that the motion brought with her.

"Easy, Elina." Came the soft tones of Ratchet. A servo gently shifted her, bringing her to optic height, and the blue that she saw there reflected her battered and weak form. Without caring about whatever anyone around them might think, she immediately burst into tears.

A long, slow vent followed, and then there was a large metal finger rubbing up and down her back, warmth radiating out into the bruised flesh.

"I know." The Medic said softly, allowing the mocha skinned woman to let out her emotions as she saw fit. "I know."

"He's g- gone!" she coughed, her lungs burning, her eyes stinging, everything else in an in between reality state that she wasn't entirely sure of how to work with.

"There will be time to grieve soon, Elina, but for now I must ask that you try to calm down. This is not good for your system at the moment. Can you try for me?"

No; she did not want to try and calm down. At the moment, she didn't care about anything. All Ellie could think of was the shock and the numbness that was spreading through her veins and chilling her to the core. But, considering the fact that Ratchet was trying to help her, she did her damndest to suck in a breath of air and exhale it slowly.

Becoming more alert, she was relieved when her somewhat shaky legs met with the ground once more, and she stood and watched as Ratchet stood beside her.

"They're bringing Optimus' frame in." he said in explanation, seeing her slightly confused expression. "You should try to stay close; you may get in the way of the others."

Nodding vaguely, Ellie's breath caught in her throat as she caught sight of the massive frame being brought in by the helicopter. There was something so wrong with the image. Optimus should have been walking among the rest of the Autobots, battered as they were. Not being brought back as an empty husk- a frame without any beating spark within.

With a short clip, the harness holding the mighty Prime were cut loose, and the mech's frame fell with a heavy metallic crack that had the mocha skinned woman covering her ears. It was so wrong. So very, very wrong.

The other soldiers of NEST stepped forward, grief in most of their eyes, but all Ellie could see was the sight of her father, limp, the crimson pool around him growing larger and larger with each second-

No.

She couldn't think about that right now. She had to stay as calm as possible, even though she could feel herself slipping down a muddy slope with no chance of stopping mentally.

The other Autobots around them transformed, all of their faceplates displaying the same grief that she was feeling, but not showing herself. Elita-One, in particular, was actually crying, and Chromia and Arcee were supporting her as she stumbled forward to touch her spark-mate's chassis. Prowl's facial features were blank, wiped clean as they usually were, but Ellie could notice that he was holding himself straighter than he usually did, his servos clasped behind his back. The same with Jolt, really, though the blue mech was standing next to Glyph, and the pair of them were touching at the shoulder.

Before anyone could say anything, however, the rumble of unfamiliar engines drew everyone's attention to a convoy of tan military vehicles that pulled up with surprising speed. As soon as they stopped, men piled out, guns aimed directly at the Autobots.

"What is the meaning of this?" Sideswipe demanded as Sunstreaker snarled, their blades unsheathed from their wrists.

"You dare point a gun at me?" Ironhide bellowed, what looked like smoke billowing from his mouth as he did so. "You want a piece of me? I will tear you apart!"

Various agreement came from the femmes, all of them surrounding their vulnerable leader, who was now crouched threateningly over Optimus' frame, armor raised on her shoulders and neck dangerously.

"Whoa whoa! Drop your weapons! _Drop your weapons!"_ Will roared, slamming his hands on the lead vehicle's hood. "Tell them to lower their weapons!"

"Tell them first."

"Tell them to lower their weapons!"

"Major, there's nothing I can do. Talk to him." The soldier Will confronted stated uncomfortably, gaze shifting to the door, which swung open to reveal none other than Galloway.

"Your NEST team has been deactivated, Major." The arrogant man stated as he slammed the door closed behind him. "You are to cease anti-Decepticon operations, and to return to Diego Garcia, pending further orders.

"No, we take our orders directly from Chairman Morshower, sir."

"Oh, I'll see your Chairman at the Joint Chiefs of Staff and raise you a President of the United States. I am Head of Operational Command now. An alien blood feud has been brought to our shores for which our soldiers are paying the price. The secret is out! This is our war now, and we will win it as we always have; with a coordinated military strategy."

"This fool is terribly misinformed." Ratchet rumbled, looking over to Ironhide and Prowl as he said it.

"You're gonna need every asset that we've got." Will protested, pointing at the surrounding Autobots.

"What we _need_ is to draw battle plans. But we'll explore every possible diplomatic solution." Galloway retorted.

"Like what? Handing over the kid?" Will drawled sarcastically.

"All options are being considered." Galloway finally said, though there was a strange shift in his gaze as the words left his mouth.

"Whatever the Decepticons are after, this is just the start." Graham spoke up, his head tilted respectfully.

"Look. There is no negotiating with them-"

"I'm ordering you to _stand down_." Galloway finally snarled. "You won't be needing this anymore."

Ellie watched, with growing anger, as Galloway ripped the tags from Lennox's uniform, and that was it. Pure and utter fury engulfed her, and before she quite realized what she was doing, she was lunging forward. Pain exploded in her knuckles as her fist met with Galloway's face, but she barely felt it as she sucked in a breath. The liaison reeled away from her, glasses cracked and jaw held carefully in his palm, eyes wide at the very notion of someone actually _hitting_ him.

"_YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!"_ she screamed at him, her throat protesting at the force of her words. Tears blurred her vision ever so slightly, but she paid them no mind, fully intent on giving this creep the verbal whiplashing her deserved._ "OPTIMUS DIED FOR YOU BECAUSE HE HAD THE MOST HONEST SPARK I'VE EVER SEEN! HE WAS PROTECTING US FROM THE DECEPTICONS! MY FATHER DIED FOR YOU! I WATCHED HIM DIE AFTER I REFUSED TO HAND OVER THE KID! I WATCHED IT ALL HAPPEN, YOU SELF APPOINTED PRICK! YOU'RE LUCKY A BROKEN JAW'S ALL I GAVE YOU, YOU FRAGGING PIECE OF SCRAP! I SHOULD SHOOT YOU! I SHOULD TEAR YOU TO PIECES! I SHOULD RAM YOUR FUCKING POMPOUS ATTITUDE SO FRAGGING FAR UP YOUR ASS THAT EVERY TIME YOU BREATHE ON SOMEONE THEY CAN SMELL HOW MUCH OF A POLITICAL BASTARD YOU ARE!"_

Her chest heaving, she whirled, stalking off, ignoring the yells and threats shot at her back. She didn't care. She'd lost her father, the mech that had quickly gained her respect, and now she was losing her fucking mind.

"I really don't like that dude." Epps commented as Galloway drove off, trying not to let anyone see how badly injured he really was. "He's an ass_HOLE_."

Prowl, for once, hadn't glitched. A sure fire miracle if there ever was one. No, he looked rather concerned as he watched Ellie staggering off towards the hangar, her shoulders shaking. In fact, all of the Autobots were looking after Ellie with concern, including most of the ranks of the men.

"That femme is my new idol." Sideswipe stated seriously, glancing over to Sunstreaker as he did.

"_Autobots, report to hangar three for transport." _The comm system announced.

"Ironhide, we should leave this planet." Ratchet said softly, touching his old friend's shoulder gently.

"That's not what Optimus would want." Ironhide replied, looking back in the direction Ellie had gone as he said the words. There was something about that femme…

-;-

"Bee, if you hate me I understand."

Bumblebee tilted his helm, grief shining in his blue optics as he observed his ward before looking away. The Autobot cause had suffered greatly because of what had happened out in the field, and it was a definite shock to have seen Optimus fall to Megatron.

"I'm messed up." Sam muttered, leaning against an old car that was in the deserted property with them. "I'm sorry."

"_Young fella…You are…the person I care about most in my life. If there's anything you need, I won't be far away."_ Bee replied over the radio, the static in between the clips more prominent than it usually was.

Sam moved away from the yellow 'bot, sitting himself down heavily next to Mikaela and looking ahead blankly.

"He's dead because of me. He came to protect me and he's dead."

"_There's some things you just can't change…his sacrifice for us, would not have been in vain, Hallelujah!" _

"I'm gonna make it right. I'm gonna turn myself in."

"_We've got to stick together!" _

"You're not going to do that." Mikaela said flatly as she shifted herself more comfortably in the chair that she'd unofficially decided to be hers. Sam walked towards Bumblebee's alt-mode, looking a little dazed as he did so.

"Yes I am." Sam said, leaning against Bee's hood. In response, the 'bots engine revved threateningly, challenging him to go through with it as he jerked forward, causing the teen to look behind him in slight surprise.

"_Everything we worked for will be wiped out in one day."_

Sam jerked as if he had been electrocuted before his gaze rested on the Chevy twins. "You two."

Skidz and Mudflap straightened, their gazes resting on Sam as they did so.

"Huh?" Mudflap asked curiously.

"Hey, you know the glyphs? These symbols that have been rattling around in my head?" the teen pointed to his arm, where he had doodled one of the symbols for momentary reprieve of the constant barrage of them that were spinning around in his mind.

"Whoo, now dat's old school, yo! Dat- dat- dat's like…Cybertronian!" Skidz commented, looking a little smug with himself for figuring out the answer to the question. Mudflap still looked more than a little lost, though, so perhaps there wasn't any time to get their hopes up just yet.

"Aw, dat's some serious stuff right dere." He finally stated.

"They've gotta mean something- like a message! Or uh, like a map! Like a map to an Energon source! Can you read this?" Sam held out his arm, the symbol scribbled there causing the Chevy twins to share an equally confused look before

"Read?"

"No..uh, we don't really do much readin'." Mudflap explained for the both of them, sounding rather intelligent for once.

"Not so much." Skidz agreed.

"Well if you can't, we gotta find somebody who can."

"Aw, look who came sashayin' back." Skidz mocked as Leo appeared from behind them.

"Head growin' like a chiapet." Mudflap pointed out to his brother, who nodded in return.

"I had a bit of a panic attack earlier, alright?" Leo said carefully as Sam and Mikaela eyed him up warily.

"Dat's cause you're a pussy." One of the twins said before fistbumping gleefully over the 'triumph'.

"But I think I'm allowed that considering what I've been through. Anyway, I heard you have a problem, and I think I know someone who can help." The Spanish teen mumbled, looking highly uncomfortable about being stuck in between Skidz and Mudflap.

"Who?"

"Robo-Warrior."

-;-

"You gotta be kidding me." Sam said in disbelief as he looked at none other than Seymour Simmons.

"Alright, meat store's closed! Everybody out!" the former Sector Seven agent yelled, herding people out the door, including one stubborn older woman, who was protesting and saying something about her meat order.

"Wait a minute. You _know_ this guy?" Leo made a face, pointing at Simmons as he shoved in between Sam and said Spanish teen.

"We're old friends."

"Old friends…you're the case that shut down Sector Seven! Got the kibosh disbanded- no more security clearance, no retirement, no nothing. All 'cause of you, and your little criminal girlfriend. Look at her now, so mature." Simmons muttered, eyes glancing over Mikaela with little interest.

"Moron! Where's the whitefish at?" a short woman with rusty curls and a pink bow yelled through a side door, gesturing with her hands angrily.

"Stavro! You don't get Christmas bonuses by just standing around! You want those new teeth you saw on SkyMall?" Simmons demanded, spittle flying.

"It's my dream!" the Spanish man nodded, as if to say that it was obvious enough already.

"Help her out!"

"You live with your mama?" Mikaela asked coolly, raising a brow as she returned the favor of looking over the former Sector Seven agent.

"No, my mama lives with me. It's a big difference. They've got your face all over the news, Alien boy." Simmons said, pointing to the television in the corner of the store, which was currently projecting yet another one of said images for the world to see.

"Yeah, I know." Sam rolled his eyes.

"And NBE-1's still kickin', huh? How did that happen? Don't answer. I don't know what you're hiding but I don't want anything to do with it so good-bye, you never saw me, I got bagels to smear. Vanish!"

"Give me five seconds. Look, hold on. I need your help."

"Reallyyy…_you_ need _my_ help?"

"Look- I- I'm slowly losing my mind, okay? I had a little crab-bot plunge a device deep into the soft tissues of my brain, and started projecting little alien symbols like a freaking home movie. And on top of that, I'm a wanted fugitive. So you think you've got it rough?" Sam spat back, using improvisation skills to get his point across.

"You said it projected images off your brain?" There was a thoughtful look on Simmons' face.

"Right."

"Meat locker, now!"

-;-

Smithsonian Air and Space Museum." Simmons said about an hour later as he, Sam, Mikaela and Leo, now accompanied by the miniature Decepticon that Mikaela had captured in her dad's shop all stood out in the parking lot. "Land of Dreams in there. All I ever wanted to be was an astronaut."

Ripping off his pants and revealing a rather nasty looking thong, the man barely took notice of Sam's horrified expression, too caught up in the thrill of what was about to happen.

"Hold those."

"What is that." Sam asked in mild disgust as Simmons shifted.

"What? I wear them when I'm in a funk."

-;-

"You should be embarrassed. This is a family museum, sir." The security guard grumbled at Leo as he held the toilet paper that the teen 'needed' over the top of the connecting stall. Before he could change his mind, the Spanish teen took out the Taser that he'd been given and shocked the hand that was holding the toilet paper. With a heavy thump, the security guard toppled, twitching on the bathroom floor.

Moving to jump over the form of the other man, Leo forgot that his pants were still around his ankles, and he tripped, accidentally shoving the Taser into his own…nether regions and electrocuting himself. With a muffled shriek of pain, he toppled onto the security guard before rolling onto his back, heaving for oxygen.

-;-

The various Autobots were covered with netting and being loaded onto the planes as Will looked on with a heavy heart. Next to him, Epps was still muttering various curses about Galloway and how he wished that it had been him to smack the bastard into the ground rather than Ellie. Granted, Ellie had definitely made more sense in the end, considering that she was backed by everyone else, but the consequences would no doubt be severe after they got back to Diego Garcia.

Back to the place where they would sit and twiddle their thumbs while the Decepticons ran rampant.

"So we're shipping them back to base. This is such a mistake." Will said, not for the first time.

"Major Lennox! Phone call!"

-;-

"_Lennox, I'm with the kid. The kid, you know? The one with the attitude? We need the truck- the truck. We've got a possible resurrection going on over here. You're not gonna believe where we are. Code: Tut, as in King Tutankhamen, on the back of a one dollar bill. Coordinates for airdropped; 29.5 North, 34.88 East. Okay? Write it down. Write it down. I gotta go. Okay. Heat comes." _

That had by far been one of the oddest phone calls that Will had ever received in his life.

"Coordinates 29.5 North 34.88 East? Tip of the Red Sea. Gulf of Agraba."

"Egypt." Epps said in mild disbelief. "Are you serious."

Galloway hovered at the edge of the ranks, and Graham turned, nodding with a curt 'sir' before turning back and watching the proceedings in a calm at ease position.

"Even if we could figure out a way to get your Big Man over there, how is this little kid supposed to bring him back to life?" Epps continued to interrogate Will, remaining skeptical of how all of this was going to play out.

"Look. I dunno. But we've got to trust him." Will said after glancing around to make sure that Galloway wasn't sniffing around them too closely. "Even though we'll need to get everyone to go along with this, including Ellie."

"Ellie's not doing so well, in case you didn't notice."

"That's why I'm mentioning it now." Will sighed, glancing over at said mocha skinned woman, who was climbing onto the plane that contained all of the Autobots. "Do you think she'd be okay if she had to go into the heart of the field so soon? I've got a bad feeling about Egypt."

Epps heaved a sigh and ran a hand over his head.

"I sure hope so, since we're about to go through with this."


	40. Rise of the Fallen

_The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be._

_-Socrates_

-;-

The plane was nearly silent as everyone settled down to get some rest. Ellie couldn't help but remain awake, considering the amount of emotion that decided that it wasn't going to wait until later to resurface.

The fact that she was in the same plane as Optimus wasn't helping much, either.

For what seemed to be the hundredth time, the mocha skinned woman reached out to touch the now cold metal that made up the Prime, her heart clenching painfully. Further down the line of men, a rather irritated looking Galloway sat, unable to speak due to his swollen jaw. That, at least, was considered a blessing, though no one would actually tell the man that. But secretly, everyone had been cheering for Ellie once they'd gotten past the emotional breakdown that the woman had gone through while ripping Galloway a new one.

"You didn't deserve to die." She whispered again, leaning back, though her gaze lingered on the blue and red paint.

"_-Engine malfunction. We're going to have to-" _the comm system crackled to life, Andy's voice coming over the line clearly. It was a little amusing, actually, to hear the man sound so amused about something that was obviously more serious than it sounded. _"Prepare for bailout."_

"Whaaat?" Will asked, leaning forward with his arms crossed as Galloway looked up from his papers with a slightly panicked look on his face.

"Bailout? _Bailout_?"

"Alright, team! Grab your chutes!" Will shouted as everyone began standing up. Ellie followed suit, sensing that there was something more going on that she wasn't aware of. Looking over at Will, she almost laughed at the sight of him helping Galloway get into his own parachute. "Alright. You familiar with the standard MC4?" he was saying casually, hauling on a strap to tighten it around the older man's waist.

"Of course not, never jumped out of a perfectly good airplane before. Wait a minute, is this really happening?"

"Yeah." Will said absently, focusing a little too hard on 'helping' the man into the harness. Ellie did smile then, and she stood herself, grabbing the parachute that had been conveniently set aside for her and beginning to slide into it. She didn't know entirely what was going on, but by the looks of things, they were about to ditch an unwanted pest.

"Alright, here we go."

"Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You're behind this, aren't you?" Galloway asked suspiciously, looking down at Will, who was now fiddling around with another strap at the man's waist. He looked up at Galloway with a little too much innocence, but Galloway didn't seem to notice in the heat of the moment.

"What are you talking about? You heard the pilot, these guys don't mess around. Nope, this is just standard procedure. I'm just following orders to the letter."

"You just signed a death warrant on your career, Major." Galloway hissed as Will muttered something else and yanked on a cord that seemed to have potent effects on Galloway's facial expression. Mind, it wasn't all that threatening, considering that he couldn't talk properly with the swollen jaw, so Will pretended that he didn't hear what the man said.

"Whoa whoa whoa, what was that, what was that?"

"Ah, that's not good." Will said. "C'mon, right this way."

By now, Ellie was finding it hard not to laugh. The sheer blatancy of the grins on some of the guys faces who were turned away from the hated liaison was enough for her to know that he suspicions were correct. They were going to ditch Galloway, and it was going to be good.

"No no no no no no. I can't jump out of an airplane- I have an ulcer!" Galloway clutched to Will's arm, but the Major wasn't to be deterred. As the back of the plane opened, Ellie couldn't hear what was being said, but several moments later, Galloway flew off the back of the plane with a howl.

"He say good-bye?" Epps asked as Will walked back.

"No, he didn't even say good-bye." The Major said with a straight face.

-;-

"It's gotta be around here…somewhere." Simmons said to himself, holding up the GPS he held in his hand for closer investigation. However, he paused a second later when he bumped into Sam, who had stopped dead in his tracks to look at a large doorway built into the side of the canyon wall.

"You see this?"

"Spec-tacular." Skidz said as they all jogged towards the magnificent carved door.

Sam was the first to enter, hauling himself up over the high ledge and into the cool darkness within the building, closely followed by Simmons, Mikaela and Leo. Bumblebee, Skidz and Mudflap were the last to enter, Bumblebee looking around hesitantly before following after his charges.

-;-

Will did have to explain what the fuck was actually going on to Ellie before they all leapt out of the back of the plane, of course. But what was so shocking was the fact that there was a possibility that Optimus could be brought back to life by Sam Witwicky. The fact that they were in Egypt was basically second place to the first thought.

Luckily, Ellie did know how to use a parachute, though she was going to be jumping with Will anyway. As the back of the plane opened, the twenty or so men that had come with them all leapt out, limbs flailing, grins on their faces as the air whistled past their faces and through their ears. Will shot the mocha skinned woman a thumbs up as she flipped several times, her heart racing with adrenaline and her own features unconsciously twisting up into a grin. It was kind of hard not to, experiencing something like this, where she felt so…free.

Soon enough, however, Will yanked his chute, and Ellie followed his example, pulling her own, gritting her teeth as her fresh wounds were jostled by the sudden slowing of her body.

There was a small town below them, and as they fell down to the ground, she could see faces turning up to see what was going on. However, Ellie was focused solely on following Will's lead, and managed to stick close enough to him all the way to the ground before landing.

As soon as their feet touched the ground, they were moving, making sure that they had their various weapons and other equipment that would be necessary if fighting broke out. Given what they were trying to accomplish, odds were that it was probably going to happen.

"Go!" Will yelled as he shrugged off his parachute, the mesh scarf around his neck waving in the wind. "Remember the friendlies!"

"Cover Optimus!" Graham yelled as he led most of the men over to where the large mech had been dropped. Automatically, he looked through his scope, taking great care not to miss any small detail.

"Secure the village! Get those cases down here!"

Ellie was left wondering what to do as all of the other NEST members went about their business, unloading cases and yelling words that had little meaning to the mocha skinned woman to one another. Will looked around, searching for something, and as he locked gazes with Ellie, she straightened.

"What's the plan, sir?" she asked. Will's gaze turned serious.

"We're heading into a warzone. You and Ratchet will stick together. Ratchet's going to cover you. You're gonna get some in the field experience starting in just a few minutes, sweetheart."

She saluted. "Yes, sir!"

The other soldiers had paused to watch her, and she felt their gazes, some approving, some not. She didn't care. She knew that she was about to do something that would be able to save lives. She would be able to prevent someone else from dying under her watch.

"Hey, _chica_. You're going to need these." Fig said, appearing at Ellie's shoulder. The next thing she knew, she was being handed a large pack of medical equipment, along with a gun of some kind that resembled a cross between a shotgun and a rifle.

"Got a visual! Yellow Team, four klicks!" Graham yelled from on top of one of the buildings.

"Pop flare!" Will yelled back.

One of the men standing next to Graham held up the flare gun and fired; the flare flying up into the sky before arcing on its way back down to earth.

A lone plane flew by, and suddenly, the communication headset that she was wearing went dead.

"That thing's got alien tattoos all over it." Epps muttered as he pulled out a pair of binoculars and watched the fighter jet loop around. "That ain't airforce."

Soldiers scattered, moving around on set missions. Will shooed Ellie over towards Ratchet, who shifted slightly on his axels as she touched his hood. Kneeling in the sand next to the Hummer, she opened up the pack to see what she had to work with.

Bandages, a couple bottles of some kind of pills, and a couple syringes. The bare basics that she would need to keep someone from bleeding out. On autopilot, the mocha skinned woman's mind went into overdrive, planning out what strategies she would be able to use to best use the supplies she now had in her possession. Repacking it all, she remained crouching, waiting to see what would be her next step.

"We've got incoming!"

Ellie's eyes snapped wide. Next to her, Ratchet transformed up into his bi-pedal mode and moved so that she would be shielded from most of whatever was about to happen.

Explosions rocked the ground as several large meteors (which she knew to be Decepticons), collided with the sand around their sheltered area, sending dust and debris flying in all directions.

"There's a whole lotta fight coming our way!"

"How many?" she heard someone ask.

"Thirteen of them."

"This ain't good. This ain't good." The mocha skinned woman heard her uncle say as he stepped away from a partial wall, looking around warily. "We about to get our asses _whooped_."

Lennox began barking out orders, Ironhide and the femmes moving out with a team of soldiers, while the rest of the Autobots shifted. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe in particular were looking a little more antsy than usual, while Prowl was silent, his optics flickering over the incoming Decepticons steadily.

Ratchet offered Ellie a hand, and she willingly hopped up, her mind automatically switching over to her medical training as she began going through all the possible injuries she was going to have to deal with in the coming battle.

And then, hell broke loose.

Sideswipe, Sunstreaker and their group of soldiers were the first to come under fire, and she could hear Ironhide's familiar bellow as he too, was engaged.

Ratchet tucked her in between two buildings as his own group came under fire, and within seconds, she was darting into the danger zone to reach a wounded man. Time flew by her as she was suddenly in motion, going from soldier to soldier and doing the best she could for them.

Shrapnel grazed her face, heat roiling across her skin as she ducked and wove through the carnage, her tan uniform stained from blood. Whether it was her own or not remained to be seen, but until she was safe and out of this hell, she wasn't about to risk it.

Throwing a quick glance over her shoulder, the mocha skinned woman flew across the sand again, reaching out to a young bystander who looked as though he'd been half crushed by the wall scattered around him. Gritting her teeth, Ellie grabbed him under the armpits and hauled him back towards the safety of Ratchet and another building before ripping open the teen's pant leg and frantically wrapping a thin layer of bandage around the gash that she noted before shaking her head at the youth's terrified face. She couldn't spend long on each person. All she could do was make sure that they didn't bleed out or die from their wounds.

A sudden explosion from one of the buildings grabbed her attention next, and among the screams from the soldiers, she could hear the familiar tones of Fig. Ellie's heart plummeted. Head turning so fast she was sure she'd given herself whiplash, the mocha skinned woman pushed herself to vault over towards the sound, fearing for the worst.

As she reached the point where she'd been sure that she'd heard Fig's voice, a sudden hand on her shoulder had her spinning, teeth bared, only to meet with the same man she'd just been looking for. Choking in relief, Ellie slapped him before sprinting off again, seeing that there were no bodies for her to work on by the remnants of the building.

It wasn't until a chopper crashed nearby that she finally paused, but was in motion seconds later, running over to the remains of the helicopter to see if there were any survivors. Efficient in her movements, she checked for any survivors.

There were none.

Her stomach roiled as nausea suddenly reared its head at the gruesome sight that was before her, but she pushed it aside, glancing around to see where Ratchet was. He was nearby, rolling with a Decepticon that was almost twice his size.

Parrying a blow with one of his saws, Ratchet roared as the Decepticon got in a knife, raking it down the Medic's side and causing energon to spill from the wound. Using the distraction that the mech had given, the green mech blew the Decepticon's helm off with his cannon. After that, it was long distance shooting on both sides.

"Sam! I've spotted Sam!" Sideswipe bellowed over his shoulder, using the remains of a wall as cover next to Sunstreaker.

The sudden shout had the mocha skinned woman's head snapping up, and then she was running towards them, along with a group of soldiers, who were trying to get Sam and Mikaela to safety. There were no signs of Arcee or Elita-One, and Flareup was looking worse for the wear as Glyph helped the orange femme along. Ironhide was now next to Prowl, and the pair of them were quickly managing the Decepticon population from afar.

Ellie saw Will running alongside her, a good four yards or so away from herself, and veered to meet up with him as he disappeared in the debris and smoke.

They were behind the remains of a corner of a building, and she automatically tried to get a look at Sam's hand, which was heavily bandaged and looking rather unhealthy. The teen resisted mildly, however, causing the mocha skinned woman to give him a sour looking glare before he settled enough for her to actually begin to unwrap the very strained bandages he was currently wearing.

"Well look who showed up. You better have a good reason for us to be here." Will panted, looking around the edge of the stone to see what was going on.

"Where's Optimus?"

"He's right over there across the courtyard." Will pointed, all of the small group's attention going in that direction.

"I gotta get to him right now."

"No way. We got airstrike coming." Will stated, looking up at the sky.

"I have to get to him right now." Sam insisted, still holding up the sock.

Before anything else could happen, however, Will ushered all of them to press themselves against the stone and hold their breath as the sound of a Decepticon nearly overhead reached their ears. Ellie froze in her re-bandaging of Sam's hand, glancing over to Mikaela, who was on her other side, with wide eyes.

As the Decepticon fired its cannons literally right above their heads, Ellie wondered if this was how she was going to die before all of a sudden, another Cybertronian flew out of nowhere and took down the Decepticon above them. At seeing another pair of red optics, the mocha skinned woman was ready to run for the hills, but as she continued to watch the pair of them clash, it seemed that the new arrival was on the side of the Autobots. But just as it seemed that it was over, another Decepticon flew out of the sand and burrowed its way into the larger one, earning a growl of irritation as the mech hauled the scorpion looking thing out of his torso before collapsing, grumbling about how he was 'too old for this crap.'

Will was speaking again, but Ellie only vaguely listened as she hauled her back over her shoulder and readied herself for the thirtieth sprint she was about to make. It wasn't that hard to tell that they were about to run, either, by the looks of Will's apprehension.

And then they were running. She didn't dare look back, kept on looking ahead, knowing that something bad would happen if she looked back. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she could feel the sweat dripping down the back of her neck, but all Ellie could focus on was to keep moving. Keep her legs pushing her forward, because if she looked back, she was done.

Sam was right behind her, and the mocha skinned woman did exactly as she'd just told herself not to do. Glancing over her shoulder, all she could see was the cannon blast coming her way, too fast for her eyes to follow. The next thing she knew, the world did a complete loop as she was launched through the air. She landed heavily, the breath knocked out of her, and she struggled to her knees, hacking and trying to suck in a lungful of air.

But then she caught sight of Sam.

She pulled herself to her feet, yelling at everyone to move out of the way as her bag made its way into her shaking hands, unzipping the bag and rummaging through the contents, grabbing bandages and everything else that she could possibly think of before she began pounding against his chest violently, the CPR she was performing one out of sheer desperation. Three other medics tried to shove her out of the way, but she snarled at them, which seemed to do the trick. All they did was prepare the defib, and it was only then that she moved out of the way, allowing them to do their job. Allowing them to try what she had failed at yet again.

But he was gone.

She leaned back on her feet, feeling the adrenaline pumping through her system, seeing everything as if it were in slow motion. She could feel the tears again, feel them dripping down her face, which had to be blackened by the dirt and the blood from the shrapnel that was embedded in the side of her face.

And then there was movement. Sam moved, jolting upright and immediately latching onto Mikaela. The black dust that had been lying in the sand next to the teen reformed itself into a strange dagger-like object, and Sam automatically grabbed it after he gently pushed Mikaela away.

Shuffling over to Optimus, he awkwardly crouched on top of the Prime's chassis before rearing back and plunging the dagger deep into the mech's frame.

"Boy…you returned for me." The blue and red mech stated softly as he raised himself up from the sand.

Relief pounded through her, and she turned, stumbling as she did so as her head throbbed and her bruised skin ached in protest. Optimus was _alive_. He had been dead, but he was _alive_.

However, her relief didn't last long, as a large, jagged mech appeared out of nowhere, knocking everyone back, including Optimus. Reaching down, the Decepticon plucked the dagger from Optimus, optics gleaming maliciously as he hissed, "My Matrix."

Slamming his pede down on Optimus' chassis, the Decepticon turned before disappearing into thin air with a harsh mechanical whirl. Dazed, Ellie and the rest of the soldiers and Autobots pulled themselves back up, Ironhide telling Optimus to get up, while the rest of the 'bots simply looked stunned.

"..Optimus, take my parts, and you will have a power you've never known. Fulfill your destiny." The Decepticon said calmly before reaching to his own chassis and pulling out his spark.

"Jolt- Electrify!" Ratchet ordered, stepping forward, along with the blue mech. "Transmit those afterburners!"

Ellie watched in fascination as Jolt's whips (which she'd only heard about), roared to life. In moments, parts of the large black Decepticon were welding themselves to Optimus' frame, and the Prime got to his feet slowly.

With a short test of the thrusters, he nodded.

"Let's roll."

It took only what seemed to be seconds afterwards that the battle was won. After disappearing into a tall group of buildings, from which it was fairly easy to tell that there was a battle occurring, Ellie could catch only glimpses of the epic war that had to have been going on.

Eventually, there was silence. Cautiously, the remaining soldiers and Autobots stepped forward, looking in the direction of the pyramids and the structures that surrounded it, waiting with bated breath to see who the victor would be. Slowly, the familiar form of blue and red appeared.

Optimus stood by the Sphinx, his form almost as tall as it was, and Ellie could only feel relief that the Prime was still alive. She didn't know what would happen if he'd died again.

Colours flashed in front of her eyes, and vaguely, she realized that through the sudden shocked calls that were around her, she was supported by something large and warm. When had she gotten here?

_"You're bleeding, Ellie."_ she heard someone say.

_No, I'm not_. she wanted to say. _It's everyone else's blood that you see. It's not mine…right?_

Looking down, she was astonished to see that she was now missing a part of the torso of the military jacket, crimson spilling down her side and leg.

There was so much blood.

Pain began filtering through her system as the adrenaline finally began to wear off, and her vision flickered as a wave of dizziness hit her hard. Turning to one side, she retched, feeling nothing return back up her throat, before everything simply ceased to exist around her.


	41. Escape

_In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future. _

_-Alex Haley_

-;-

It was bright. That was what woke Ellie up.

Fully expecting to see the familiar walls of the Med Bay surrounding her, it was quite a bit of a shock to the mocha skinned woman when she found herself in an illuminated canyon of sorts, except that there were no walls of rock in front of her. Rather, there was a body of shimmering silver that looked suspiciously like mercury, the shore a dark grey, almost black in color.

And standing calmly at the edge of the ocean was a mech.

It wasn't too difficult to tell that the Cybertronian was a mech. Mechs were built with larger torsos and bulkier shoulders; but that didn't necessarily mean that all femmes were thinwaisted and dainty. Chromia was much more bulky than the other femmes, she could say as an example.

The mech turned, and Ellie was suddenly hit dead-on with a horrible sense of déjà vu. She knew those faceplates. Perhaps they hadn't actually spoken to one another face to face, but she knew who this mech was.

"You're Jazz."

The blue opticked mech raised an optic ridge curiously, and his helm tilted to one side ever so slightly.

"That Ah am." He replied in a distinct tone, still curious. "But Ah don' know who you are."

"I'm Ellie."

Jazz's faceplates screwed up in though suddenly, and there was a serious look of concentration for several long moments before the mech vented heavily.

"Ah can' help but feel Ah've heard tha' designation before." He muttered, sounding rather put out by the thought. "How do ya know _mah_ designation?"

And there it was; that one question that the mocha skinned woman wasn't entirely sure of how to reply to. After all, how could she tell him that he was-

Hold on. If she was standing here, talking to Jazz, who was _dead_, did that mean…?

"Am I dead?" she asked, feeling panic rising in her chest. Looking around, Ellie was now finding that this place was more of a prison. "Where are we?"

"Limbo." The mech replied promptly. "So no, ya aren' offline yet. But femme, Ah want ta know; how do ya know mah designation?"

Ellie took a deep breath in, focusing solely on the action of doing so before exhaling, feeling herself calm down fractionally. Not enough to completely suppress the fear that she was still feeling, but enough that she would be able to actually have a coherent conversation with the mech in front of her.

"I've…seen your frame." She started, not seeing the immediate shock spread across Jazz's faceplates. "Ratchet still has your frame from Mission City. I cleaned it for you."

"An' how do you know Hatche'?"

"I work with him now. I'm a Medical Officer too, so he's been teaching me about everything."

"Huh. Didn' know fleshlings like you're workin' with Cybertronians." Jazz said, still looking a little shaken by the fact that Ratchet still had his frame. Ellie felt pity well up in her chest for the silver plated mech. He was looking far more confused than he had been several moments before.

"Jazz…" the mocha skinned woman cleared her throat, not knowing what she was going to say next. However, she didn't have to think long when she felt peace fill her and erase most of her tension. "Come back with me."

"Tha' ain't possible." The saboteur shook his helm. "I'm offline. Ah can't go back."

The tugging feeling in the back of Ellie's mind grew stronger, and she held out her hand to the rather small mech, noting that he couldn't be much larger than Bumblebee.

"Well, you don't know if you can or can't unless you try." She stated calmly. "If you're in limbo, and you've been here for so long already, doesn't that mean something?"

The mech looked at the offered hand, gaze unreadable. "Ah don' know."

The tugging was more insistent, and to be perfectly honest, it was seriously beginning to annoy the mocha skinned woman. What was up with the freaking tugging? It was almost enough to make her wince.

Heaving a sigh, Ellie found her lips curling up into a smile for some unknown reason, and she looked at her hand before back to Jazz. Raising a brow, she waited to see what the mech's decision would be.

"I don' know, li'l lady. Primus may no' be so happy with meh if Ah go back."

"Come on." Ellie urged. "It'll be fine."

"Ah've heard that one before." The mech said to himself before hesitantly reaching down to grasp her much tinier hand, the warm metal engulfing it gently.

"I'll see you soon, Jazz." She whispered as the scene around her abruptly dissolved, plunging her back into the unforgiving depths of darkness that waited with jaws wide open.

-;-

She bolted upright with a scream. Her heart was pounding a million miles a minute behind her chest, and she could feel the tears streaking down her cheeks. She couldn't remember what she'd been dreaming about, if at all, but it must have been something horrifying if she couldn't help but wake up in such a manner.

There was nothing familiar surrounding her here. No one present in the room, no sounds other than her own. There was nothing except for pain and the sudden memories slamming into her with the force of a hurricane. Images of what she could remember happening, all of them in vivid clarity. Her father, falling, collapsing, crumpling. The pain that she'd felt as she'd fallen, the emotional collapse that she'd suffered…

Everything. Like a vicious slap to the face, it all came rushing back to her, causing the mocha skinned woman to curl in on herself, hands clapped against her ears in a last attempt to block all of the voices and audio that came with the memories.

This was all her fault. If she hadn't accepted the fucking position from her uncle, none of this would have happened. She would still be in San Francisco with Leon, calling her father every other Sunday, and trying to correct her roommate's klutzy tendencies. She wouldn't be _here_, in some godforsaken town in Egypt, dealing with all of the shit that had happened to her in less than forty eight hours in total.

She didn't care anymore. She had to get the fuck out of here before she lost her mind completely.

Gritting her teeth against the pain that the motion of sitting up caused her, Ellie managed to stand and look herself over. Thankfully, she was dressed in neutral, loose clothing that looked like something anyone else on the street would wear. It didn't have that hospital look to it that most other clothing she could have woken up in would have had.

Slowly, she shifted, taking in her bruises, aches and many pains before seeking out her belongings, which were placed on the small table next to the bed. Thankfully, she still had her wallet, which would be quite helpful in what she was about to do.

Taking in a slow breath, wincing at the no doubt fractured ribs she now had, the mocha skinned woman carefully made her way over to the dimly illuminated door and opened it a crack, looking out and down the hall. Faintly, she could hear familiar voices murmuring, and inwardly, she cursed. But that would have to be a risk to take.

However, before she could do anything further, there came the sound of soft footsteps down the hall. Singular, considering there was no speaking involved. Narrowing her eyes, Ellie waited until the soldier was nearly on top of her before her hand darted out and grabbed the male before dragging him forcefully into the room and closing the door softly behind her.

"You. Take me to the nearest airport. Now." She stated, feeling dangerously calm. Her fist was clenched around the cuff of the male's shirt, and she pulled him closer, baring her teeth. "If you don't, I'm afraid I might do something a little reckless."

"But ma'am-" the soldier replied, recognition sparking in his eyes. He must be one of the new recruits that had been brought to Egypt, Ellie mused silently to herself before she snarled.

"I said, _take me to the nearest airport_. That's an order."

"Yes, ma'am." The younger man said shakily, eyes wide with fear.

"Good. I'm glad you see things my way." Ellie said mildly, though she was sure that she looked like some kind of wild woman with her bandaged self and slightly disturbing mood-swings. "We're going to go, and you're not going to give either of us away. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Let's go."

Despite the fact that she knew she was injured quite badly, the mocha skinned woman still had enough strength to heave the soldier a good couple of feet away from her towards the door.

-;-

"Now remember. You tell anyone where I went, and I'll find you." Ellie reminded quietly through the window of the vehicle that the soldier, Davis, had used to get her out of the Egypt safe house. Honestly, she didn't give a fuck of whether or not the male told the rest of the men where he'd taken her. There were a thousand possibilities to choose from, a hundred different flights leaving. It would be near impossible to tell which flight she was taking or where she was even going, really.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good."

With that, the mocha skinned woman stepped away from the vehicle and made her way into the terminal. Immediately, she was bombarded with a wall of sheer noise. It was almost enough for the mocha skinned woman to cringe and shy away, but she held her own, looking at the departure times listed above her head, eyes skimming the names of places, searching for one in particular.

And there it was.

_Italy- Departure 4:30pm_

Checking the time of the clocks, she deducted that there would be just enough time for her to purchase a ticket and board her flight before Will and the rest of the men figured out that she was gone, Davis not even being back at the safe house yet. After all, it would be a little incompetent of them not to check in on their esteemed Medic after going through such a traumatic experience, wouldn't it?

Getting in line, it wasn't long before she was conversing with the uniformed woman behind the desk and purchasing her ticket and being pointed towards the boarding terminal. Luckily for her, there was nothing on her person other than her wallet that she had to put through the metal detector, and then she was cleared to board the plane that would take her away from all of these fucking problems. Away from everyone who had caused all of the things that had happened to her even occur.

Entering the plane, the mocha skinned woman took her seat, tuning out the flight attendant as she began her announcements, eyes focused on the tarmac outside of the window. Soon, she would be safe. Away from all of this.

Soon, she would disappear.

-;-

"I'm pregnant. Yeah, I'm sure that's the way it'll go. Hey Alex, you know that night that neither of us can remember and you woke up in my bed? Yeah, you got me fucking pregnant, you prick. Yeah, you're going to be a father, you jackass. Don't want to have anything to do with me? That's perfectly fucking fine." Leon muttered to herself as she pulled on one of her baggier sweaters that she didn't particularly care about and glanced into the mirror on the other side of the room. Chewing her bottom lip, she looked down at her stomach before looking back in the mirror and then sighed before walking over to the damn thing and turning sideways before pulling up her shirt and sweater to reveal her slightly swollen stomach.

"I'm pregnant." She whispered to herself again, feeling all of the tension just seep right out of her. The reality of everything was beginning to set in now, and it wasn't a reality that the brunette was sure that she could face yet. She was barely twenty two, for Christ's sake! She wasn't ready for a baby!

But here she was, and there was nothing to be done about it now. She wasn't going to get an abortion; that was just something that she refused to even _think_ about. She would be taking away something that wouldn't even have a chance at the world yet. Though she wasn't completely against abortion, it was true that Leon would never consider getting rid of the life that she carried in the here and now.

Tentatively, she reached a hand down and gently cradled the bottom of her stomach before rubbing her fingers across the remaining surface of skin, a soft smile crossing her features. All thoughts of Alex and what she would say to him were banished to the back of her mind for now; she would deal with them later. For now, Leon would simply bask in this feeling of utter completeness that she felt as she looked at that small bulge in the mirror.

"I'm going to have a baby..." she whispered.


	42. Act Two: Support Systems

-;-

_One week later_

"_Amore mio! _Time to get up!"

The black haired woman groaned, rolling over and blinking green eyes sleepily as she glanced at the clock. That done, she sat up and stretched before flipping long mocha legs over the side of the bed.

"Coming, Nonna!" Ellie called back, double checking to make sure that her pajama shorts hadn't ridden up her thighs overnight and also ensuring that her tank top was covering everything that needed to be covered as she moved over to the white washed door that led to the hallway.

Padding towards the kitchen, the mocha skinned woman took several moments to glance at the photographs lining the off white walls, eyes pausing on the ones that included the figures of both of her parents in them. Her heart throbbed painfully, and she could already feel the tears prickling at the edges of her eyes.

"Ellie? Are you- oh."

The mocha skinned woman turned, seeing the slightly taller and thinner elder woman standing at the opening leading to the kitchen, greying black hair pulled back in a bun. Rosalina Epps' grey eyes softened in understanding as she dried her hands on the dishtowel in her hands, and she immediately approached her granddaughter with open arms.

"_Gli incidenti possono capitare."_ Rosalina murmured as Ellie wrapped her arms around her waist. "It was just a very bad accident that happened to take away my Liam; your daddy."

"But it was my fault! It's because of me that he's dead!" Ellie whimpered, shaking her head vehemently as she sobbed into her grandmother's shoulder.

"_Non intendo tollerarlo, _Elina Rosa Epps." Rosalina snapped suddenly, pulling the younger mocha skinned woman away from her suddenly. Her long pianist fingers suddenly dug into her skin, though not painfully, as the elder woman gave her the infamous look that had scared her shitless as a young child. Now, however, it was merely reprimanding more than anything, and perhaps more than a little grieved about the fact that part of her family was being torn apart right in front of her eyes. "You listen to me, and you had better listen good. I will _not_ stand for this behavior under any circumstances. I realize that there's one hell of a lot that you and Robert do in the military that us normal people don't know about and aren't allowed to know about, but I can tell you this right now. Whatever it was that happened wasn't your fault. And don't even try to deny it and say that it was, because sweetheart, I had two boys in the military, and both of them told me at one point or another that it was their fault that someone under their watch died. Your mother too. And I know you're hurting, sweetie, I know so well. But I will not see you waste away like you are now because of it. We _will_ get through this, you hear me?"

It was more than she could take, to be perfectly honest with herself. Ellie fell limp, as if the weight of the world had been taken off of her shoulders for just a moment, and in the off white hallway with the old photographs, she clutched onto her grandmother like the lifeline that she was.

-;-

"You're what?"

"I'm pregnant." Leon repeated slowly, feeling unnaturally uncomfortable for once in her life. She really hated how these hormones were affecting her brain these days now. Always making her second guess and bawl her eyes out without a moment's notice. But this was something else entirely, and its name was unease. She felt uneasy being here in this situation. Especially considering that she was in Alex's office at the shop. Which, now that she thought about it, was full of many sharp, blunt and very dangerous objects; probably something that she should have taken into consideration before she'd decided to make this impromptu meeting.

"No. That's not possible." Alex looked like he'd been punched in the gut.

"Yeah, well, it is." Leon snapped back, suddenly feeling much more irritable than she had about seven seconds earlier. "Point in case being the fact that I am now about two and a half months pregnant, and it _seemed_ to happen the night of that party that you were so insistent that I go to."

Alex's face twisted into something else for a moment, and Leon was struck with the sudden realization that there was something much darker lurking beneath the blond's usual expression.

"Get out."

"What? That's it?" she couldn't help but bait. "Try to put all of this on me and get away with nothing? Is that how this is going to work?"

"_I SAID GET OUT!"_ Alex roared, lunging forward and pinning the helpless brunette to the wall. His hands clenched around her arms tightly, causing her to wince at the sensation, but she refused to allow herself to let out a sound. Perhaps it was the fact that she was used to the pain of falling down stairs or tripping over inanimate objects that provided an answer for her, but nonetheless, she didn't make a sound as she was pinned against the office wall, all but helpless.

She could feel the heat of him as he leaned in closely, pressing against her slightly protruding stomach, his breath wafting over her and smelling faintly of smoke.

"Get off of me." She hissed.

"And if I say no?" he replied, raising a hand.

Leon didn't know what it was that possessed her then; perhaps it was the fact that she was in a dangerous situation that she wasn't entirely sure how to deal with. Perhaps it was the fact that she was a pregnant, sleep-lacking woman who was two months along in her first term. Whatever the reason, something in her snapped at the action of Alex raising his hand threateningly towards her.

As his hand descended, Leon wrenched her arms free and instinctively lashed out like she'd been taught years ago by Ellie. Not that she'd ever thought that she'd have remembered the things she'd been taught by her friend at a time like this, but this thought was at the back of her mind as her fist connected with Alex's face.

He wheeled back, eyes wide as he looked at Leon as though he couldn't believe that she'd just hit him. Actually hit him, and meant it for once.

"I told you to let go of me." She growled, narrowing her eyes and baring her teeth. Bundling herself up in her sweater, she drew herself to her full height and began backing away to the door, her gaze not taken away from the blond's until she was fully out of the office. That done, she hurriedly left the mechanic shop, not allowing any of the tears to fall until she was safely back in her car.

-;-

"I've got it!" Epps exclaimed as he and Will were walking along the halls of Diego Garcia.

"What?" Will blinked. That had certainly come out of nowhere, as he was sure that several soldiers further up the hall could attest to, considering they were all looking over their shoulders curiously and perhaps a little warily. After all, Epps had been acting more than a little off since he'd realized that his niece had disappeared into thin air back in Egypt. Livid would have been a better word to describe the rage that the man had exploded into once the truth had come out of where one of the new recruits had taken Ellie under threat of death. Luckily, Fig had happened to be nearby, else that poor soldier may not have been alive for much longer.

Personally, Will could understand why that poor man had been terrified of Elina in the first place. He'd seen the mocha skinned woman in action. Honestly, he had even been the slightest bit intimidated by the sheer force that she exerted over herself and her skills.

Therefore, it was the most logical thing to never let her and Sarah meet. _Ever_. The results would essentially mean that even Megatron would run for the metaphorical hills; that he would immediately retreat from Earth and never return, if he knew those two women like he thought he did.

And while he was on the topic of the Transformers…

There was the seeming miracle of the revived saboteur, who Will had seen ripped in half with his own two eyes. When they'd returned from Egypt, tired, battered, bruised, but elated, there had been something waiting for them.

A very confused Jazz met them on the tarmac, with absolutely no memory of how he'd gotten to be alive. He knew quite well that his last memory had been in Megatron's clutches, with the Decepticon saying something, and then he was onlining his optics in an unfamiliar Med Bay and no one around him.

Prowl, at seeing Jazz for the first time in Primus knew how long, had immediately glitched, and since then, the pair of mechs had barely been seen apart. Apparently, coming from Sideswipe, the two of them had had a bit of an odd love/hate relationship that had been going on for as long as anyone could remember; apparently even before the twins had been 'sparked'.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand.

"I'll call my mother!" Epps declared.

"Your mother…" Will deadpanned. "Why would you call- you think Ellie might have gone to your mother's."

"It makes sense! My mama's the one everyone goes to when they need help!"

"Apparently not, considering this is the first I've heard about this." Will sighed, rolling his eyes and adjusting his jacket. "And don't you think you should let the poor woman wait until tomorrow, considering that it's about ten at night?"

"Oh." Epps deflated. "Yes, I suppose that makes sense."

"Uh huh. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go to bed. Let me know how the conversation with your mother goes tomorrow."

-;-

"What are we going to do today, Nonna?" Ellie asked as she fed cereal into her mouth.

"Well, _amore mio, _I thought we could go and look around for some new clothes for you, considering you're still borrowing some of my old ones." Rosalina replied serenely as she leaned over to pluck one of the fresh blueberries out of Ellie's cereal. "I think we'll go down by the ocean once we're done, too. Go for a walk along the sand before heading back home."

"Sounds like a plan. And Nonna…I'm really sorry about showing up out of nowhere like I did." The mocha skinned woman said softly, looking down at her bowl of cereal and prodding at another blueberry broodingly.

Rosalina sighed, leaning onto the light wood counter of the island, and lifted Ellie's face so that she could look her granddaughter in the eye.

"Ellie, I will never hold against you what you did. Even if that silly son of mine comes banging on my door, I promise you that you don't have to leave. You're welcome to stay for as long as you like. Just promise me that you will never allow yourself to crumble. I know you're stronger than that, my darling. I've seen your strength before, when your beautiful mother passed, and I know you've still got it in you." The elder woman said with a soft smile, watching as the younger mocha skinned woman teared up and burst into tears for what seemed to be the hundredth time since arriving. "That's right, sweetie, just let it all out."

Before anything else could be said, the phone next to the fridge rang.

Brows furrowing, Rosalina moved over to the device and stared at the caller display for several moments before answering with a smooth, _"Pronto." _

Ellie watched as her grandmother's face creased into a faint smirk, quickly followed by a stream of Italian that the mocha skinned woman didn't understand one bit. This went on for another several minutes before Rosalina finally hung up and began chuckling.

"Speak of the devil. That was Robert. I think I've done a job on him, convincing him he had the wrong number and all." She snorted before wiping a tear of amusement away. "Now, I should probably call my serviceman and see what I can do about getting my number changed before Robert figures out he had the right number the entire time."

With a mutter to herself in Italian, the older woman went back to the phone and continued talking to herself in Italian, completely confusing Ellie. But at the moment, she couldn't care less about any of that. She was somewhere she could call home for as long as she liked. She had the support she needed, and the place that no one could find her.

Essentially, she didn't exist at the moment.


	43. Help

_As a rule, we find what we look for; we achieve what we get ready for._

_-James Cash Penney_

-;-

Epps was not a happy camper when he came to lunch the next day, and Will was the unfortunate soul who happened to get in his way as he sat down with a bowl of Kraft Dinner.

"My mother is the Devil herself." He muttered, nearly slamming his bowl of Kraft Dinner down onto the table before slouching onto the bench.

"Do I want to ask what happened during your call, or should I just plead ignorance now?" Will asked through a mouthful of noodles.

"She was speaking Italian to me the entire time." Epps growled, stabbing a group of noodles savagely. "And I thought I had the wrong number until I checked the records, and when I tried to call back, some recording told me that the number I was trying to call was no longer in service!"

Will choked on his mouthful of noodles. Even though he was also concerned about Ellie, the fact that Epps' mother had gone and spoken in Italian to him for an entire conversation and then changed her number so he couldn't call back was hilarious. After all, he didn't know many women; or men, really, who would do something like that. And most of the people and Autobots on the base were the ones who Will singled out to be the ones most likely to do something of the sorts.

"The next mission the 'bots head out on, you can head out and check in on your mother, Rob." He offered, waving his plastic fork around vaguely. "Considering that it involves our CMO, it would be cleared with no problems."

Now Epps looked a little sheepish.

"About that…" he coughed. "I don't know where in Italy my mother lives. She moved there a few years ago, and since I don't keep in touch with most of my family cause of the 'Cons…"

"You never changed the records to where she lives now." Will finished. "Well, that could certainly be a problem. But hey, at least you know which country she lives in."

"That's the problem." Epps groaned, letting his head smack down against the table.

Will subtly checked the time on his watch before sighing and standing, taking his half-finished bowl of Kraft Dinner with him. He had to get going if he wanted to have enough time to check in with Ironhide and get everything set up for the simulation training that was going on for the rest of the afternoon. Mostly so that if another Egypt scenario popped up, everybody would be more prepared, but also to take everyone's minds off of the good people that had been lost.

"Well, I've got to get going for simulations, but I'll see you later, Rob." He said lightly, tapping the table with his fork before beating a hasty retreat, still steadily mowing his way through the bowl of noodles.

Man; it seemed like every person on base was going a little insane since Egypt.

-;-

Ellie was doing just fine puttering around at seven in the morning; she had laundry to do, and she was up in one of the rare occasions before her Nonna was. The mocha skinned woman was even planning out what she could make for breakfast when her stomach gurgled. And not in a good way, either.

A moment later, she dropped the laundry she was carrying and making a break for the bathroom, hand clenched over her mouth. It was one of those times when she simply dropped to her knees in order to heave up her dinner, too; not so fun on the knees or her stomach. She silently thanked whatever god was out there that she'd had the intelligence to pull her hair back into a bun before she'd gotten up; otherwise this would be so much worse to endure.

"Ellie? Are you alright?" she heard her Nonna's voice ask from somewhere out in the hall. "What's wrong?"

She would have answered, but before she could, the mocha skinned woman was hit with another round of nausea, and that thought was shoved far away from the forefront of her mind.

A moment later, there were gentle fingers rubbing her back, and her grandmother's soothing tone murmuring something in Italian to her. At that point in time however, Ellie didn't give two flying fucks. She was hurling into a toilet, her knees stung from impact with the tile flooring, and her laundry was scattered across the hall.

When her nausea finally managed to subside, she stumbled as she tried to stand, her grandmother's arms helping her up and her concerned expression looking into Ellie's own.

"_Amore mio, _are you sure you're alright? I can call my doctor; she's a lovely woman."

"No thank you, Nonna." Ellie rasped, feeling as though she'd swallowed sandpaper at some point in the last twenty minutes. "I'm just going to start my laundry and have a shower, if that's alright."

"Of course, sweetheart." Rosalina smiled, features softening as she kissed Ellie's forehead. "Just call if you need anything, _si?" _

"Mhm." Ellie replied quietly, still slightly shaky as she flushed the toilet and turned to the mirror. She looked like an absolute mess now, and she was totally done with interacting with others for the moment. At least her Nonna was understanding of that situation. She could remember very clearly several other people who just didn't know when to leave her be; Autobots included. And while she was on that topic, she wondered how Sam was doing. And Bumblebee; she hadn't seen the mech in months. Apparently he had been in Egypt, but if he had, she hadn't seen him.

Inhaling deeply, the mocha skinned woman also pondered what she was going to do in terms of keeping herself occupied while she was here in Italy. Although she loved the beautiful scenery, everything was just so…normal, in comparison to what she had been exposed to while at Diego Garcia. Maybe she could find a gym or something, keep her kickboxing and various other sport activities healthy and keep herself from lingering on unpleasant memories.

It wasn't that she was completely losing her mind; no, after her Nonna's stern talking to, she'd decided to try her best not to go insane from all of the shit she'd been through- but she was still having difficulties waking up in the morning with her bruises and scars that she'd received from Egypt, and the faint sense of being somewhere dangerous when she was really safe.

She should have been going to see a psychiatrist, or a therapist, but really, what good would those do? They would all tell her the same thing that her Nonna had been telling her; that it wasn't her fault, had she considered the possibility that she was suffering from PTSD, things along those lines that she was not interested in even trying out. True, that decision was probably partially based on the fact that she was having extreme difficulties adapting back into civilian life, but her father had done it, and so could she.

Turning on the tap with faintly trembling hands, Ellie splashed water onto her warm face, wondering how on earth she'd managed to get sick. Maybe from the sudden climate change? Heatstroke? Or maybe…

No. She refused to even consider that possibility. But even as she denied it, her medical training in the back of her mind kicked into gear, counting the weeks it had been since she and Fig had slept together.

Four, maybe five.

"Shit." She hissed, suddenly bracing the sides of the sink.

She shouldn't be too concerned yet; after all, she wasn't entirely sure that she was even pregnant, but the timing and the luck that she had were more than a little damning.

And in times like this, it was best if she gave Leon a call.

-;-

Leon was settling down for a late dinner when the phone rang.

Her head snapped up; and then she was moving, surprisingly graceful considering the usual disastrous results that occurred just by her _walking_.

"Hello?"

_Please be Ellie, please be Ellie, please be Ellie. _

"_Leon…" _

"Ellie! Oh my God, are you alright? I heard about Egypt and I had this bad feeling about it and I was terrified because I hadn't heard from you and are you crying?"

In one drawn out sentence, Leon had basically hit every nail on the head, though she couldn't have possibly known that considering that she couldn't see Ellie's face.

"_Leon, I- dad's dead. And I'm on the run, and I'm in Italy with my Nonna, and I really need you because I think I might be pregnant." _The mocha skinned woman said quickly, though Leon could still tell that she was crying. Call her a hormonal mother, but her maternal instincts kicked in at the first four words of Ellie's statement.

"Oh no." she whispered, making her way to her chair and slowly seating herself down. "Are you alright?"

There was a dry chuckle from the other line; one that held no humor.

"_I'm losing my mind, my dad's dead, no one knows where I am except for you and Nonna, and I might be pregnant. Do I sound like I'm okay to you, Leon?" _

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I told Alex I'm pregnant. He reacted the way I thought he would, and then some. He pinned me to the wall of his office, but I punched him before he could do anything. Needless to say, I am fired and probably won't be able to keep the house for much longer, even though you're still helping pay."

A long pause came from the other end of the line, and then the brunette could hear Ellie's voice say something to someone else in the background, closely followed by another tone that she didn't recognize. This went on for several more moments, and then Ellie came back on the line, sounding much more cheerful than she had a moment before.

"_Come to Italy. Sell the house and move here with Nonna and I. She said it's fine with her; she's got plenty of room for the both of us."_

"Sell everything and move to Italy?" Leon blinked, suddenly feeling like she'd been slapped. "Now?"

"_Or as soon as possible." _Ellie clarified. _"Leon, I know I sound crazy, and to be completely and brutally honest with you, I am. But I need you right now, and you're on the other side of the planet. We can ship everything we need over to Italy, but really, this is the best place for me right now."_

"Ellie, I'm going to have to think about this for a couple of days…" Leon near stuttered. After all, after hearing what Ellie was going through, it was a huge shock to hear that the mocha skinned woman suddenly wanted her to move all the way to Italy with almost no warning. Just pack up and ship out, just like that.

"_I can deal with that. This is the number you can reach me by, and Nonna's been asked not to confuse you and answer the phone in Italian." _

"Alright, I guess." Leon shrugged, internally wondering if Ellie's grandmother was Italian, or just knew Italian. "Back to the possible pregnancy. How the hell are you wondering if you're pregnant?"

"_You know Fig, right? We were in France, and one thing led to another and now I'm not really on speaking terms with my uncle, even though he and I haven't really had time to talk given the circumstances with Egypt and me being compromised emotionally and all that shit. Needless to say, the both of us were drunk; probably not as drunk as you get, but drunk, and the next thing I know we're waking up and everything's awkward. Didn't I already have this conversation with you?"_

"Maybe." Leon replied. "But Ellie, I meant how the hell do you even know that you could be pregnant?"

"_Considering the fact that I dropped all of my laundry in the middle of the hallway and made a break for the toilet, I'm pretty sure that explains everything. But considering that you don't really know that, I'll explain. I know nausea. I know how I react with nausea. I know how I feel before I hurl everything I've eaten into the toilet, and this was not something along the usual lines. So either I'm still getting used to the climate, or, given the fact that I counted four or five weeks since France, I put two and two together."_

Huh. When Ellie put it that way, it suddenly made way more sense. But there was also the fact that she was creepily good at making deductions like these just because she knew her body that well.

"You know, I seriously wonder if you should be a detective or something one day." Leon commented offhandedly. "With those kinds of things, you'd be one hell of an awesome detective."

"_Whatever. I've got to go; talk to you soon." _

"Bye."

-;-

The plane was silent, save for two lone figures in the cargo hold.

Epps was looking down at his clasped palms, his knees spread so he could stare down at the metal ground below him.

Across from him, one of the Autobots. Jolt seemed to be distinctly uneasy with the situation, but he could set aside any of his own discomfort and care for the human that he had been charged with protecting while he was temporarily stationed back in the United States. It was for several reasons, really, one of which including the ceremony being held for his brother.

The male had taken it hard; much harder than anyone else had expected. Most of the Autobots understood completely, given the fact that their faction had been fighting for longer than Earth had been around. The humans, on the other hand, didn't understand as much. Yes, there was the general understanding of loss, as there always was when one was lost, but this was completely out of their league. They had never met the other Epps. They didn't even know of Elina until she'd arrived a good seven months ago. Even he had been surprised; Epps did not seem like one to have any other family, and he didn't speak of them due to his fear of said family becoming a target for the Decepticons. But that hadn't done much good, in the end. His brother was dead, his niece missing, and the only family left that he knew the whereabouts of were the ones he was currently going home to.

Really, it was something that no one deserved to suffer through. Which was why he had volunteered to go along with the man, even though everybot and everyone else thought that he'd simply been the one least likely to be missed during this small task. After all, everyone on base was even worse than normal since Egypt, and now that Jazz was suddenly online again, things were only going to get worse. Thank Primus that Red Alert wasn't on Earth. If he was, everything really would go to the Pit on base. The mech was a complete and utter nervous wreck.

…Mind, he and the twins may or may not of had a servo in further worsening it, but there was still no proof to connect him personally to the pranks that he'd helped pull off.

No, for the moment he would be the support that Epps could come to, seeing as he was one of the mysteries that he wasn't allowed to brief his family on. So for the moment, he would simply watch, and wait.


	44. Running in Circles

_Seeing through is rarely seeing into. _

_-Elizabeth Bibesco_

-;-

_One month later_

A month flew by much faster than Leon would have ever thought it to.

After thinking about what Ellie and her grandmother were offering her, plus the fact that it was Italy they were talking about, the brunette had decided to accept.

It wasn't easy to sell the smaller things that she knew she wouldn't be able to keep, but in the end Leon was left with a rather satisfied feeling that she'd managed to downsize rather nicely. Unlike Ellie, whose only real things of value were her medical journals, collected from all corners of the world, she had to go through her clothing and the kitchen materials, and the furniture, and get rid of a large majority of it. However, she did manage to keep the set of extremely comfortable leather chairs after persuading Ellie that it would be totally worth it in the long run.

So, after shipping everything over and making sure with her doctor that she was good to fly, Leon boarded the flight to Italy and left San Francisco behind. Mind, the flight was a little uncomfortable, considering that she had to deal with a couple of teens right behind her giggling away about some guy named John. Really?

After a while, however, the pair settled down, and Leon conked out for a solid eight hours, give or take.

When the plane finally touched down, Leon practically launched herself off of the cursed thing, and probably would have kissed the ground had it not been for the fact that Ellie was right there waiting for her. Her Ellie. No one else's.

"Ellie!" she yelled, weaving through the crowd of people and throwing her arms around the mocha skinned woman, hugging her tightly. "I missed you so fucking much."

"I missed you too." The mocha skinned woman replied, hugging Leon back. God, it felt so natural to see her again, to hug her. The only thing that was different for either of them was the fact that they both had protruding stomachs. Leon's, of course, was larger considering that she was about a month further along than Ellie, but at the moment neither of the women cared.

"_Amore mio, _care to introduce me to your friend?"

"Ah! Sorry, Nonna. Leon, this is my Nonna, Rosalina Epps. Nonna, this is Leon." Ellie jerked away, blushing lightly.

Rosalina, to Leon, looked a lot like Ellie did; only a little taller, a little older, and with a little more grey hair. Actually, she didn't look all that old.

"Pleasure to meet you, Leon. Please, call me Nonna or Rosa." Rosalina smiled gently at the slightly overloaded looking brunette. "Welcome to Italy."

"Thank you. It's nice to meet you, too."

That done, Rosalina turned to Ellie.

"Ellie, we'll go collect Leon's luggage and then get her settled into her room, _si? _Is there anything you girls would like while I'm out getting dinner fixings?"

"No thank you, Nonna. But we can probably think of something on the way home." Ellie answered automatically, hands waving off her grandmother's look. "I promise I won't get a sudden craving for beets again anytime soon."

"Well then, let's get going." Rosalina clapped her hands brusquely.

-;-

The day was cold. Rain fell uninterrupted from the sky, as if crying.

Robert Epps stood in front of the grave that marked the place of his brother. His big brother.

He swallowed back the sudden lump in his throat as he reached out to touch the marker that would forever mock him.

_You failed. You couldn't save me, your brother. And you're one of the only ones who know the truth, Robert. You're one of the only ones to know that it was Decepticons that did this. _

Ducking his head, Epps allowed the tears to fall. It would be the only thing he would allow. He would mourn, but he would not allow himself to crumble.

He'd told Monica to stay home. He didn't want her to see him like this. So very vulnerable and alone. For so long, he'd forced himself to be the strong one, especially after Ellie's mother had died, and now Liam was gone too.

Did the circle ever end? Did this endless pain and suffering actually come with the hidden light sewn into the lining? Was there any chance in hell that he would be able to keep the rest of his family safe from the Decepticons?

"I'm sorry, Liam." He whispered, finally dropping to his knees, unable to stay upright any longer. It was as if his body was telling him to give up; give in to everything that had happened. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I'm sorry I couldn't save any of them. And I'm sorry I can't be the person Ellie needs in her life right now. You were always the more emotional one. The one everyone wanted to be because you could be that shoulder to cry on. I always needed you, Liam. And now you're gone, too."

There was a heavy feeling that settled into him as he said the words, as if he were binding himself to the grave in front of him. He could already feel the claws of the hurt and cold and everything that he wished he could have done better for those that he hadn't been able to save all those times that they'd been out in the field.

It wasn't fair.

Liam, the Special Response Team, Ellie; none of this bullshit should have happened to them. Hell, he wished that he hadn't been such an ass about the entire situation in France that included Ellie sleeping with Fig. Ellie was right; she could sleep with whoever she wanted. Without him quite realizing it, his little niece had grown up, and he was just going to have to get past that fact.

He wished he could have apologized to his brother for all of the things he'd never meant; even though they'd happened years ago. All the meaningless things back then seemed to create a mound of guilt that he knew he would never be able to shake off.

"I've gotta go, big bro. I've gotta go and take care of the bastards that got you." Epps finally murmured after what seemed to be hours, slowly resting his palm on the smooth stone before standing and saluting sharply. "I'll be back when I know everything's finally over."

With that, the dark skinned man turned and began the trek back to Jolt, who had patiently waited for him through the entirety of his visit.

As soon as the door closed and Epps had buckled himself in, Jolt silently started up his engine and pulled away from the cemetery that now held the marking place of Liam Epps.

"I apologize for your loss." He said softly over the radio, earning a short nod from Epps. He wasn't sure if it was a positive or negative thing that the man wasn't speaking, but then again, every mech, whether Cybertronian or not, had their unique way of grieving. If he honestly had to guess, Ellie's was running from the problem. Epps' seemed to be silence.

"We will find her, Robert. Or she'll come back. It will only be a matter of time." He began, feeling much more awkward than he'd hoped he would. He hadn't really ever been confronted with such powerful grieving in such a short period of time; yes, it was true that he'd lost comrades, but somehow, seeing the humans grieve made it seem insignificant. Their bonds with one another, in some ways, went so much deeper than even sparkmates could hope to achieve. Others, they seemed to create bonds that were similar to those siblings like Sunstreaker and Sideswipe or Skidz and Mudflap possessed. "She is grieving as you are. Perhaps she simply needs more space than we realize."

"Ellie's always been like that." Epps confirmed dully, looking ahead at the road. "After her mother died…we barely ever saw her. Even Monica couldn't get through to her. We thought that something had broken in her. She barely ever spoke. She hardly ate, and when she slept, she always had nightmares about Liam or me dying. And now that Liam's gone too…I'm worried. More than I ever was when her mother passed away. I only hope that her grandmother's taking good care of her."

"You know where she is?" Jolt asked, feeling slight surprise run through him. The last he'd heard, no one was aware of the location the mocha skinned woman had run off into.

"She's got to be with my mother. They were always close when she was younger. And considering that she changed her number after I called, it's the only place I can think of that she would be, other than San Francisco with Leon."

"Would it not be a logical assumption that she may have gone back to be with Leon?" Jolt asked carefully, silently berating himself for beginning to pick up on Prowl's unique way of speaking. It wasn't that he hadn't anything against the mech, it was just something that he hadn't expected that he would pick up on. "After all, the pair of them seem to be quite attached to one another."

"I already thought about that. But there's nothing there. By the looks of it, Leon moved out about a month ago." Epps said flatly. "So other than San Francisco, Ellie's with Leon, and they're both probably in Italy with my mother."

"Has Prowl been unable to locate her cellphone signature?"

"In a garbage can in the Egyptian airport Ellie was last seen in." Epps said dryly, a small grin coming to his features. "At least she's smart. That's how I know she's safe, wherever she is."

This logic, to Jolt, was definitely flawed, but he wasn't about to go questioning it with Epps around. That was just asking for trouble; and he knew that the humans could be a great deal of trouble when they put their minds to it. In the meantime, however, he would just have to keep his thoughts to himself. That way there was no possibility that anyone, or anybot, would know what he thought about the humans and their odd behaviors that made them who they were as a species.

-;-

Ellie and Leon reclined on a couple of lawn chairs, Rosalina next to Ellie in her own chair, on the balcony that overlooked the ocean that surrounded the coastal town of Ravello. Both of the younger women sported protruding stomachs, while Rosalina merely looked content to be with docile company for once.

Ellie's suspicions had proved correct when she revealed that she might have been pregnant to her grandmother, and now she and Leon were three and four months along, respectively. Neither woman had been overly depressed about their unique situations, as Rosalina had thought. Rather, the pair grew closer as their morning sickness began to ease, startlingly early, only to be replaced with mood swings and suddenly odd cravings.

Though Ellie herself was trained in the medical field, what she knew about pregnancies was little to none, as Leon soon figured out when she began drilling the mocha skinned woman for answers about what to expect later on. After all, it wasn't what she had studied for. She wasn't a specialist for everything, and she'd stated as such, only to have Leon burst into tears immediately after.

Their saving grace, luckily, happened to be Rosalina. Considering that she'd had two sons, she was more than enough in the information department in between doctors' appointments and various other activities that kept the women distracted from their pregnancies. And by some miracle, the elder Epps was also a one woman army when it came to snapping Ellie out of the depressions that she would settle into from time to time as she continuously hung herself up on the fact that her father wasn't alive to see his first grandchild come into the world. Rosalina, the first time that it happened, got a look in her eye that caused Leon to figuratively run for the hills and conveniently found an errand to run into town while she effectively abandoned Ellie to her mildly satanic grandmother. All she knew was that when she returned, Ellie was contentedly making cookie dough, and the subject was never broached again. Well, not around her, anyway.

"Ugh. My stomach hurts." Leon groaned suddenly, rubbing the top of her now beginning to swell stomach with a mildly pained expression. "I can't wait to get this freaking kid out of me."

Ellie laughed softly, ruefully rubbing her own stomach, and sipping at her lemonade before looking over to Rosalina, who was still looking rather content despite being in the company of two much younger women than herself. "Nonna, what do you think the kid's going to turn out to be? For Leon."

Rosalina took a long drink of her own lemonade as she appraised Leon for a moment, then shrugged.

"I would say a girl."

"God, I hope so." Leon sighed. "It would be a complete nightmare to raise a boy. No offence, Nonna."

"None taken, dear." Rosalina waved the brunette off. "I'll freely admit that those boys of mine were terrors as toddlers. Let me tell you, there's a fine good reason why it's called the terrible twos."

"I hope I have a girl then." Ellie snickered.

"Now, now, _amore mio. _Just because my boys were terrible doesn't mean that if you have a boy he'll be a menace too. I'm sure you'll do just fine." Rosalina chided gently. "Now, how about we go into town and look at some furniture for the little ones' room?"

Both Ellie and Leon had agreed that it would make perfect sense for both of their babies to have their gender kept a secret until they were born, and also to have them in the same room. Mind, the colors of the room would still remain the same until genders were announced, but even then, the pair of friends had already decided on two different color schemes that they approved of if they had both the same or both different gender. Now all that was needed was the finishing touches on the furniture, and they would be ready to weather the sleepless nights that Rosalina warned against.

Either way, the elder Epps would support the girls, no matter which direction their lives took from now on.


	45. On Our Own

_The day will happen whether or not you get up. _

_-John Ciardi_

-;-

"Midwife?" Ellie blinked, looking over to Leon for some kind of explanation of what the hell was going on.

"Yes, midwife. Don't you dare tell me you've never heard the term, Elina." Rosalina sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "I've said it several times. There is the option of a home birth when it's time to have your baby. Haven't you been listening to a word I've been saying, _amore mio?"_

"Sorry Nonna, not much." Ellie grinned sheepishly, rubbing circles around on her visible stomach. "I think the little one's been getting more restless."

"Same here." Leon groaned, shifting on her leather chair and sending an irate glare down at her own stomach. "Only mine's bigger and has more energy to beat the crap out of mommy's tummy when it feels like shits and giggles."

"Language, Leon." Rosalina corrected idly as she finished tidying up the kitchen from breakfast.

It was a pleasant day; not unusual considering the climate and location, and the trio of women were all contemplating the season of 'winter'. Yes, it was true that it was considered the winter months in Ravello, but so far, there had been absolutely no signs of snow. Nearing the middle of November now, Ellie was struck by how quickly the year had already flown by, despite the varying circumstances that came with said passing of time.

Likewise, Leon had also been thinking about what had brought her here. She lived in Italy now, for crying out loud. No longer in San Francisco, unable to see Ellie whenever she pleased, barely able to keep up a steady connection of communication with the mocha skinned woman, with few friends otherwise to keep her company and sane. Not that she was ever sane to begin with; living with Ellie had those sorts of effects on people, after all.

Actually, now that the topic had looped back to Ellie, the mocha skinned woman had changed her plans in terms of what careers she could go into now that she wasn't technically under any obligations to anyone else. Given that she was already considerably talented at sketching due to boredom and making notes while in college, the mocha skinned woman was experimenting with actually attempting to work with watercolor paints and other media. Rosalina, of course, was all aboard for that train, and had even gone so far as to buy one of Ellie's sketchbooks off of her granddaughter for the medical anatomy sketches alone.

"Sorry, Nonna." Leon shrugged, not looking sorry at all. It was an ongoing thing, really. Although Nonna and Leon had instantly hit it off, there was still the matter of Leon's bad habit of cursing consistently due to her pregnancy. Or at least that's what she told Ellie and Nonna whenever they asked. Honestly though, the brunette was having severe issues with her pregnancy, mostly due to the raging hormones that were meant literally, in her case. Leon could and would fly into a rage at the smallest thing before instantly breaking down into tears and retreating to her bedroom for the next several hours before reappearing and acting as though nothing had happened in the first place. And quite frankly, it was really beginning to grate on her nerves. Yeah, she was pregnant, but couldn't she catch a break in the hormone department just this once?

Apparently not.

Sighing, Rosalina and Ellie went back to their own conversation, leaving Leon blissfully alone with her thoughts.

-;-

NEST base was surprisingly busy, for once.

Will and Fig looked over the soldiers as they went through the simulation training, both men's faces stern and unyielding as they barked out the orders through the supplied headsets at the teams that were currently going through the newest simulation.

Flareup, Chromia and for the first time Glyph was in the simulation, her larger vehicle mode an unexpected factor added into the simulation to see what kind of results would be given. The femme had previously been a scientist on Cybertron, and had barely seen any combat while there. And now, she was joining in the war. It had come as a shock to everyone, really. Especially Jolt. The medic had nearly glitched when he'd learned that the blue femme was determined to play a part in the war from the frontlines, unlike him.

"Alright. Team Three, you've got an unauthorised 'bot coming in fast on your left flank- Team One, back them up." Fig barked out into his headset, watching the large television screens as the femmes automatically swerved, Glyph fishtailing around a corner smoothly to cut the 'bot off while Chromia and Flareup went around the sides.

Even though femmes were typically smaller than mechs, it was a well-known fact by now that if you messed with one femme, you messed with all of them. The group (or what was left of them, now that Elita-One and Arcee were offlined) had a well-connected, almost instinctual base that they used in combat. It was also a well-known fact that the remaining femmes could take Ironhide down with what could be called comparable ease. Something, that of course, upset the Weapons Specialist, but there wasn't much that he could do about it, considering that his spark-mate was one of said femmes who had taken him down.

Will nearly growled in frustration as the first and second groups were suddenly thrown out of balance by the arrival of both sets of twins. Sideswipe and Mudflap swooped in from one side, while Skidz and Sunstreaker came out of nowhere from the other. Within moments, the two groups had been taken out of the equation and leaving the third group on their own. Surprisingly enough, Glyph was the Autobot of Team Three, so it was something that Will wasn't entirely sure about as he watched the Audi screech around another corner. He also had a sneaking suspicion that there was something about Glyph that made her more out of the loop than the other femmes. Had that been why her group hadn't been targeted yet?

Even as the thought crossed his mind, Will was enraptured by the sudden appearance of Jazz and Prowl, who came out of nowhere and launched themselves at the much smaller femme.

However, there came another surprise as Glyph transformed up into her bi-pedal mode and dodged the first blows that came in hard and fast at her helm before countering with a blow of her own, the human passenger that she carried hidden away somewhere. In fact, it was like there hadn't been a human to start with. But that wasn't the point. The point was, Glyph, a femme who had absolutely no experience in battle what-so-ever, was holding her own against Jazz and Prowl. Two 'bots, when paired together, made a formidable team.

Glyph dodged a calculated blow from Prowl, and ducked under Jazz's well placed kick, snapping out her own slimmer limb and managing to unbalance the silver mech before lunging at Prowl. Her optics blazed, even through the screen, and it was clear that she wasn't about to go down without one Pit of a fight.

But unfortunately for Glyph, her endurance wasn't quite up to what the others had it, and she was quickly subdued with a sharp blow to the side of the neck.

"Well, she did better this time around then last time." Will admitted, checking the times of the teams and marking them down on his clipboard.

Fig nodded, continuing to watch as Jazz grinned at Prowl and said something that caused the silver mech and Glyph to laugh as the small mech helped the femme up from the ground. "I'm just wondering what it was to cause this _chica_ to decide to join in the fight." The Spanish man shrugged. "I mean, isn't it a little _loco_ that right after we get back from Egypt, she starts up training with the rest of us?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Will replied. "Remember, we lost Elita-One and Arcee in Egypt. For the femmes, it's a blow they'll never be able to recover from. Elita-One was Optimus' spark-mate, remember, along with being the femme leader. Chromia's got some pretty big pedes to fill now that she's been bumped up a position."

"Right…" Fig hummed, looking up at the high ceiling of the hangar. "So, when's Epps gonna come back to base? Or is he staying in the States with Monica and the kids?"

"I don't know, Fig." Will replied again, brows furrowing. "All I know is that Ellie's missing and he just lost his brother. These things take time to come back from, if at all. All we can do is hope that Ellie shows up again someday and that Epps does the same."

"Damn, I hope so." Fig admitted. "Because if we've got to go into this without a CMO or our SIC, we're gonna have some _big_ problems."

-;-

It was dark in the pod. Not so much as flicking on optics to illuminate, for that would do nothing. No; this was darkness that could not be penetrated by light. A dark that enveloped everything it came into contact with and smothered it.

He was alone. He knew that much. He'd been separated from the rest of the mechs that he had been travelling with in a Decepticon attack that had caused him to be locked in an escape pod and ejected into space. Not exactly the most pleasant of treatments, but something that he could live with in the long run.

Alerts flashed across his vision, warning him again and again of the many difficulties that his frame was going through and what the consequences for such things would be, but he no longer cared. Stasis was not something that he feared. Sooner or later, he knew, it would happen, and there would be little that he would be able to do about it. But at least he knew that he had managed to get to safety. There was still the lingering remnants of the transmission that he and his fellows had received, telling the location of the Prime and his fellows orns ago; how they had managed to find sanctuary among the species of the planet. Perhaps not in those exact words, but the message was still clear. There were still Autobots out there, somewhere. On a small planet called Earth.

Setting the course of the pod had been less than fun, of course, but now that that obstacle had been cleared, he found it a suitable time to rest and conserve his energy for when he finally landed. Landfall was not something that he was looking forward to either, but the results would be extremely satisfying. A cube of high grade, perhaps.

Offlining his optics, the mech fell into recharge, hoping that when he onlined he would be back with the Autobots.

-;-

"Holy shit."

"What is it now, Leon?" Ellie sighed, barely looking up from her book, her mug of tea held in one hand while the paperback was held in the other.

"Christmas is next month." The brunette gasped in horror. How had she managed to forget about something like that? "Oh God, what am I going to do? There's shopping to be done and then the wrapping and the tree and the decorations and-"

"Leon, calm down. Nonna's already planning everything out. Just take a freaking chill pill." The mocha skinned woman rolled her eyes, taking a sip of tea before flipping the page. "We can head into town whenever we want to go and get gifts, and Nonna's got a small tree in storage that she'll pull out next month. Alright?"

"I suppose..." Leon pouted, suddenly feeling quite put out. Why wasn't Ellie freaking out as much as she was about this? Christmas was a very important holiday, after all. About family and food and gift giving…she could already feel herself beginning to drool.

"Good. Now can you shush? I'm almost done my book." The mocha skinned woman smiled serenely, looking creepily like her grandmother for a split second before turning back into the mocha skinned woman that Leon wasn't semi-terrified of.


	46. Unfolding Events

_If some longing goes unmet, don't be astonished. We call that Life. _

_-Anna Freud_

-;-

"Ellie! Leon! Time to get up, dears!" Rosalina called from the kitchen as she stirred a pot of oatmeal. The heavy scent of the raisons was clinging to every surface, though it didn't appear to be affecting the elder Epps in the slightest as she moved away from the stove, grabbing a towel to dry off her steam covered hands before making her way down the hall to knock on both women's doors.

Ellie, as per usual, was already semi-awake, and only needed a couple of knocks on her door before she groaned something that sounded somewhat like a greeting before silence reclaimed the interior of the room. Taking that as a yes, she was up, Rosalina continued down the hall to Leon's room, knowing that this one wasn't going to be as easy.

Knocking on the door, Rosalina waited to see if there would be any response before opening the door and poking her head in, only to see that there was no movement from the brunette. Sighing, Rosalina approached with caution, knowing quite well how volatile the pregnant young woman could be when woken 'too early' in the mornings. But despite that, Rosalina had laid down the law that there would be breakfast at a specific time, and if they wanted food, they had to get up and come get it. Leon, of course, had had the insight to ask Rosalina to wake her up for food if she wasn't already up, due to the fact that she was prone to be completely and utterly in a comatose state first thing in the morning.

"Leon, sweetheart, it is time to get up…" she gently prodded the younger woman's shoulder with her palm. However, as anticipated, there was no reply. Not that Rosalina could blame her. Leon was having little enough sleep as it was because of her pregnancy, and it was a miracle if she even made it half the night with all of the kicking that her little one was doing. And as much as everyone knew that she loved the child growing in her womb, there was also the coarse language that would make sailers blush if they heard her when the baby woke her up from a nap.

"No…" Leon mumbled in her sleep, lazily batting away the hand that was on her shoulder before turning to curl on her other side, hands cradling her stomach. "No getting up."

Rosalina sighed.

"Leon, there is breakfast on the stove. If you want it while it is warm, I suggest you get up. Then you can do whatever you like."

One eye blinked open blearily, glaring at the dark skinned woman with all the irritation she could muster before the temptation that was food began to hit home in her mind. That done, the brunette hauled herself up into a sitting position and yawned.

"Thanks for waking me up, Nonna." She mumbled, getting up with her thin blanket draped around her shoulders. Rosalina simply smiled and patted the younger woman on the shoulder before heading back to the kitchen, hoping that there wasn't anything that had happened in the two minutes that she had left the oatmeal unattended.

-;-

He onlined his optics to find that there was a tiny amount of light shining through the pod's heavy metal exterior, shining right through in a thin sliver to gleam faintly off of his dusty armor.

Shuttering his optics, he took the time to extend his sensors to their full capacity, ignoring the several red alerts blinking across his vision. He didn't care about those at the moment; those could wait another several moments or so while he attempted to puzzle out where he was now. Judging by the light, he was near some kind of sun, so that had to mean that he was in another solar system.

Bringing up the coordinates that he had been sent through the transmission, he was mildly pleased to note that he was gaining speed on the planet that he was headed for; Earth. Hopefully within the next orn, if his luck held out.

Venting heavily, he resisted the urge to flinch at the stench of the old energon staining his armor and the faintest hint of some kind of organic _thing_ on him, instead clearing his processor. Reverting back to the noble that he had once been would get him nowhere now. He was a spy; a fragging good one at that, and he would act like one. Or as much of one as he could at the moment, considering that he was floating through space without much idea of where he was headed and no way to communicate with the other Autobots.

Establishing an online connection for his logs, he clocked how long he estimated that he had been floating around aimlessly in space without contact with any Cybertronian before logging off, having absolutely no want to offline himself, despite the fact that he was already taunting stasis from low energon sources.

Muttering something rather unpleasant under his breath, the mech settled himself in for what was going to be a bumpy ride.

-;-

"Sorry about not getting up earlier, Nonna." Leon suddenly blurted, looking somewhat distracted as she flipped through her magazine. "Dunno why it seems so important that I suddenly blurt out random crap like that, but anyway, I'm sorry."

Rosalina and Ellie both looked at the brunette woman with raised brows, Rosalina smiling after a moment and reaching over to pat Leon's leg.

"Don't you worry about it, dear. I know you and Ellie both have been losing sleep. Most women do when they are pregnant. There's nothing to apologize for."

"Okay…" Leon replied, not sounding very sure at all. Ellie snorted quietly to herself before shifting and hauling herself into an upright position.

"Well, if you two are quite done, I'm going to head into town and get some of that Christmas shopping done while I still can. Nonna, is there anything you want me to grab for you while I'm out?"

"No, I think we'll be fine for a couple days more." Rosalina tossed back with an easy smile, hand not leaving Leon's leg. "But could you possibly grab something for Leon? I think she'll be having another craving later on."

"That's still getting something, but okay." Ellie rolled her eyes as she hauled herself to her feet, rubbing small circles on her stomach. "I'll be back in a while. Try not to have any nervous breakdowns, alright?"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever, Ellie." Leon drawled back, sticking out her tongue for good measure.

"See you later, _amore mio!"_ Rosalina called after her granddaughter before turning to Leon with a suddenly much more mischievous smile on than she had before. Leon raised a brow, wondering if this was something to be concerned about or something that she may or may not be interested in plotting with the dark skinned woman.

"So…what does Ellie want for Christmas this year?"

-;-

NEST wasn't much more active than it had been for the last several weeks, Fig mused to himself as he enjoyed his Styrofoam cup of coffee. It had been cooling off in terms of the weather, but that only meant that there would be more time to train out in the desert-like areas that were usually only rarely used due to the temperatures and the tendency for the soldiers to either get lost or dehydrated, regardless of if they had been drinking water or not. It was just something that happened out on Diego Garcia, and everyone had learned to roll with the temperamental weather and land.

Glancing around the hangar, he was barely fazed by the sight of Jazz anymore. The silver mech just fit into the base life smoothly, like a puzzle piece. Prowl and Optimus of course found this relieving, in their own respective ways, but there was definite relief there. Fig didn't really understand why there had been concern in the first place; it was a well-known fact that Jazz was intrigued by the human race and loved, for lack of a better term, to hang out with the soldiers and blast music out of the stereos in his vehicle mode. Perhaps it was something else that was on the Big Boss' processor then. Maybe it was just the simple fact that there was an unexplainable reason of why his SIC had up and died in Mission City, only to magically appear whole and well and alive after Egypt? That sort of thing was usually a cause of concern, if he didn't know any better.

"Fig! Simulation in ten!" Will called over to him, earning a lazy salute in return.

Since both of the Epps' on base had left/run away/gone back to America, Fig had been temporarily and unofficially boosted up to Will's SIC in order to keep the troops going. Otherwise, the man would have had to turn to the SRT, and that probably wouldn't have ended well, considering that they were still trying to piece their group back together and move on with life.

Funnily enough, it didn't actually bother him that he was the last person that Will had approached with the offer; he wasn't really one who liked to step up and be in a position of power, even if it meant that he had to go and be a head in the simulation training. He just didn't have it in him, to be honest. But that didn't mean that he couldn't be one. No, he knew that there was some potential to be a commander, there just wasn't any motivation for him to strive for a higher seat in the power system. He'd seen what it could do to people; corrupt them, make them blind to other's needs…kind of like Galloway, the moron that he was. He thought he was doing the right thing for his country, but he was going about it in the completely wrong way. You don't just waltz into a base full of Cybertronians and _demand_ something from them. The only thing that'll get you is a one way ticket to the bottom of Sunstreaker's pede.

Speaking of which, Sunstreaker had been getting better at not trying to squish anyone who happened to get on his bad side; and did he ever have a bad one. Sideswipe and Prowl, of all mechs, had been putting forth an honest attempt to reason with the volatile frontliner and convince him that even though he didn't like the humans, squishing them would definitely get him into Optimus' bad books, and if there was one thing that even slightly got through Sunstreaker's thick helm, it was that thought. Optimus had that way of managing to make one feel like they'd committed the worst crime in the world if they managed to disappoint him, and being a Prime, it kind of did have a double effect on mechs, femmes and humans alike.

So that was that, in that subject.

In terms of the other twins, it was a whole other story. They were beginning to grow restless, now that they knew the big baddies like Megatron were still around, and had begun to channel what Ratchet now dubbed as the 'Sunstreaker qualities'. In other words, going into fights with the Decepticon simulations like they just didn't care anymore, and Ironhide had been surprised when they managed to take him down a couple pegs. Shortly put, it was beginning to concern everyone. No one could explain why they were behaving so oddly, and it was very clear that they weren't about to go and tell anyone anything as to why they were doing it. The only thing they could do was send them out, and luckily enough, there had been another Decepticon sighting over in South America. So they were rid of the smaller, definitely more subdued twins for some time, unless they managed to track down the Decepticon they'd been sent after.

Shaking his head, Fig managed to focus on the present; simulations. He needed to focus on simulations, not this ridiculousness that he kept lingering on.

Ellie had kicked ass in simulation training.

_Shit. _He swore internally, wanting to bash his brains out against a wall. Why was his mind so insistent on reminding him of the mocha skinned woman wherever he went? It wasn't like he could do anything about what had happened. No one could've; he even managed to hunt down Sam and wrung the story out of him. And holy hell, was he ever concerned about that kid's mental health now. After hearing about the kidnapping and the torture and then having to watch Elina's father killed right in front of them…it was seriously PTSD causing. Serious fucking up of the mind kind of stuff.

But there was Ellie out there. Maybe already having to deal with all of the emotional bullshit along with settling into a civilian life; trying to go back to some kind of normalcy, if that sort of thing was still possible.

God, he didn't know he even missed her until his mind brought up these kinds of thoughts; reminding him that he'd had her for just a short little burst before she'd disappeared like smoke into the air. Fig had heard all of the rumors going around about how she'd disappeared; how there were possibilities that she'd gone insane and threatened someone at gunpoint to get her to the nearest airport; others that she'd stolen a car and driven there herself. But given how close Fig could be considered to Will, he'd learned the full story eventually. And from what he'd heard, Ellie just wanted out. Mind, she had threatened the poor bastard who'd been on the receiving end of her path, but those were just minor details in the big picture.

And again; why was it that his mind was so hellbent on getting him to actually think about the woman? The last time he'd actually seen her was as she was being carried off to the helicopter on a stretcher, with the other medics carrying her. And then there was the time that had been only minutes before that, when she had come out of nowhere before disappearing again.

Elina Epps was the one woman who confused him more than any other woman in the entirety of the planet; and he'd made his way around and met a lot of women over the years through the military. But the mocha skinned woman who also happened to be the niece of Robert Epps took the cake for sure.

"God…I need a therapist…" he muttered to himself before looking down at his now empty Styrofoam cup and tossing it easily into a garbage can a few feet away.

-;-

"So…let meh get this straight, Prowler. Ya think tha' this femme Ah may or may not remember is an actual femme? As in, online?" Jazz cocked his helm to one side, looking seriously disturbed about the thought. "How is tha' possible, exactly?"

Prowl nodded, barely glancing up from his data-pad that he was going over, though his door-wings did flick in confirmation. It was something of a silent language that the pair of mechs had developed over the years, given that Prowl wasn't exactly one for small talk and Jazz was perfectly fine with chatting about anything and everything at any time.

"Yes. Her designation is Elina Epps; relation being that of a niece to Robert Epps. Both, however, are not on base, and Elina's whereabouts are currently unknown." The black and gold mech confirmed, moving the data-pad to show an image of the woman he was currently speaking of. "She was also present during the Egypt operation, and may have been in contact with the Matrix at one point or another."

Jazz vented, leaning back in the seat he had been provided with and crossing his arms, a contemplative look on his faceplates despite the ever present visor covering his optics.

"Huh. So…what would it take for meh to find her?"


	47. Anticipation

_There are no secrets that time does not reveal._

_-Jean Racine_

-;-

It had finally begun to snow in Ravello, and to put it mildly, Ellie and Leon were thrilled. Ellie more so, given that she'd been on Diego Garcia since February, give or take, and had stayed there for quite a while. So as they entered December, the festive spirit was very present in the Epps home.

"Nonna, where did you say you wanted the decorations?" Ellie asked, grunting as she bent down to pick up one of the boxes that had been brought down from storage. Leon was in the kitchen, already beginning to string up the homemade decorations that had been passed down through several generations already and looked as though they would make it several more, and it had been a mutual agreement not to let the brunette anywhere near the Christmas tree until it was time to open presents. Given her less than stellar record of coordination, it was something that they would all feel better about if the opportunity was eliminated.

"Over in the living room, _amore mio_, but you really shouldn't be using so much energy." Rosalina chided as she looked through another of the boxes, unsure of its contents and if it would be worth it to bring out in the first place. "It isn't healthy."

"Nonna, I already go down to town and walk around; that's enough exercise for me." Ellie assured, balancing the box carefully on her stomach. The mocha skinned woman was four months along in her trimester, but was showing heavily already. Almost more than Leon was, actually, and the other woman was five months along. Having gone ahead and marked down the months that both women would roughly be giving birth, there had been somewhat of a joke that had been conceived. Given that Leon had gotten pregnant sometime during August and Ellie in September, it was predicted that the pair would give birth in April and May, give or take a couple of weeks. So, _April showers bring May flowers_ had been brought back into the home. Mind, the months weren't even certain, considering that there had only been several doctor visits in the time that they had been in Italy, but that was more the location than the women themselves. Considering the small population, it merely meant that there was more difficulty trying to get a hold of a doctor and even harder to make a date to see one, but they'd all managed relatively well.

"I know, dear, but I'm just looking out for you." Rosalina replied, shaking off the lingering thoughts that had been floating around in her head. "Just please be careful; I think that box has the star in it."

"Alright, Nonna." Ellie grinned back brightly, moving into the other room and beginning to giggle at something or other that Leon had done. It wouldn't be the first time, after all. The pair of women, when together, would most likely cause even the most veteran of mothers to run for the hills. They were almost worse than Liam and Robert had been when they were children. But none of that; Leon and Ellie were children themselves; they shouldn't be expecting little ones of their own for several years yet. But here they were, and Rosalina wouldn't hold that against them. Back in her day, girls were already married and would have a large family of their own by now.

Sighing, the elder Epps got back to digging around in the box, wondering how these new children would affect their lives.

-;-

"Alrigh'. So…we know tha' she went to the Egypt 'port and went somewhere. Where was her phone found again?" Jazz asked as he typed into a data-pad, sitting leisurely across from Prowl in the recreation room.

"In the northern section of the airport, near the flights departing for China, Japan, South America, Canada, France and Italy." Prowl replied clinically, scrolling through information of his own. "Given the rough parameters of her departure, it is easy to deduce that the flights available at that time were; China, France and Italy."

"And of those fligh's, only one of 'em has any ties to her." Jazz finished, seeing where that train of thought was going. "Did ya track her to Italy?"

"Yes." Prowl nodded, tapping something and bringing up another piece of information. "A bus ticket to a small populated town by the name of Ravello. Coincidentally…"

"Her family has ties to Ravello. Her gran'ma, righ?" Jazz inquired. Sure, he'd been listening through everything, but the information was pretty complicated despite his best efforts to make head or tails of it. Just because Cybertronians had much larger thought capabilities didn't mean that they couldn't be confused by humans and their relations to one another. Back on Cybertron, one had different bonds to define which relation was which; here…not so much.

"Yes. And…an address." Prowl smirked faintly.

Jazz could tell that the tactician was immensely pleased with his findings, meaning that the mech had probably been unable to fully use his particular talents around base.

"Great work, Prowler." Jazz praised, patting the tactician on the shoulder before pulling up the small blip that had appeared on his screen, downloading the information into his processor.

"What exactly are your intentions towards Elina, anyhow?" Prowl queried, a thoughtful look crossing his faceplates. "You have been rather vague up until this point."

"Ah ain't gonna make her come back, if tha's what you're getting at, Prowler." Jazz replied immediately, on the defensive. "Just gonna make sure she's safe. You won' tell anybot tha' we know where she is, right? In mah opinion, if someone wants to stay hidin', they have tha' right."

Prowl shook his head. "I have no intentions of alerting the rest of the base as to where Elina is located currently. She is seeking peace from the loss of her Creator. All Cybertronians can respect that."

"Good. Cause Prowler, if you did…Ah'd have ta do somethin' Ah'd regret later." Jazz countered coolly.

Prowl had no doubt that the saboteur would do as he threatened; vorns of practice of 'handling' Jazz had taught him that much, at least. That was probably one of the deciding factors of what made the pair so compatible in the Autobot ranks. So rather than becoming defensive, as he clinically listed off several designations off the top of his processor, he simply nodded curtly.

Jazz too, understood quite well that even though Prowl put up with his threats, (which he would fragging well carry out) the mech was the current Second in Command and was also the head of security at the moment; meaning that if he so much as twitched one pede out of line…he would be locked in the brig faster than he could say 'energon goodies'.

"Alrigh'. So now we know where the femme is, Ah'm gonna keep tabs on her, make sure she isn't in any danger."

He received a mildly sceptical look in return from the mech across from him, one optic ridge sliding up over brilliant cerulean blue to look at him with little humor.

"And why would you do such a thing?" he inquired, looping the conversation back around to the original topic.

Jazz scowled suddenly, though it was more a look of being caught red-handed more than anything else. Crossing his arms, the silver minibot slouched in his seat, data-pad resting against his knees, and glared at Prowl. Said mech could tell that the subject was beginning to broach on being uncomfortable for Jazz, but for once his logic overruled his emotions. He was honestly curious as to why Jazz was so set on hunting down Elina Epps when he'd apparently only met her in a vision of some kind.

"Cause she's the one tha' brought meh back."

-;-

Ellie hummed a cheery little Christmas tune to herself as she wandered around the shops in Ravello, waving hello to the people that she'd begun to get to know over the last couple of months and browsing the wares to see what she could hunt down for gifts.

She knew that her grandmother wasn't exactly one for big or extravagant, and she had made that perfectly clear from the beginning. But it just didn't seem right that the woman didn't get something a little more for taking her and Leon into her home without asking any questions. So Ellie was set on finding her Nonna the perfect Christmas gift that would express all the gratitude that she would most likely never be able to say out loud.

Leon, on the other hand, was fairly simple. The mocha skinned woman had already found a small pottery shop that made the most beautiful mugs that she had ever seen, and had bought several of them for her best friend. Now, she was looking for something else that she could give to Leon as a more playful gift rather than practical, (though she was certainly still open to practical as well).

"Ah! Elina! It is good to see you? You are coming to look for Christmas gifts again today, _si?" _one of the older women asked from the chair outside her shop, a mug of tea in her hands. Molly was one of the many people of which Ellie had befriended, and the pair of women got along quite well despite the age gap between them.

"Yep!" Ellie grinned back with a little wave, moving under the shelter of the overhang to better speak with Molly. "I'm looking for something for Leon again today. Do you think you have something for me?"

Molly looked thoughtful for a moment, brows furrowing as she looked skyward and sighed. "Uhm…I believe I might, Elina. Come in and I will show you."

"Thank you." Ellie heaved a sigh, following the elder woman into the warmly lit shop. The floor was covered with shelving and racks full of almost anything the mocha skinned woman could imagine. From books to mugs to homemade sweaters, scarves and more, Molly was almost certain to have it lying around somewhere.

"It is no problem at all." Molly assured as she rounded the counter and disappeared from view to grab something. "I must admit, however, that I made this one specially for your friend."

As Molly came back up, she lay a dark blue turtleneck sweater over the counter and crossed her arms, looking quite smug at the sudden light that shone in Ellie's eyes. Carefully, Ellie ran her fingers over the knit fabric, pleased with how soft it was, an noted that the yarn used was a blend of several blues rather than just the one.

"It's beautiful, Molly. I can't say no to buying it." She laughed lightly, grabbing for her pocket and pulling out the correct amount of money to buy the sweater. "How much do I owe you?"

Molly shook her head, pushing Ellie's fingers closed and patting them gently.

"This is not business, Elina. This is something I have made for you as a friend. Take it and give it to Leon with the cheer that this season deserves." The older woman smiled, creases appearing around her eyes. "Simply enjoy it and come by again to visit me soon."

"I couldn't possibly-" Ellie tried.

"No, Elina. Just take it." Molly shook her head again, folding the sweater up and placing it in the mocha skinned woman's arm.

"Okay…" Ellie relented. Molly gave her an approving look before muttering something in Italian under her breath and laughing lightly before picking up her mug of tea off of the counter where she'd left it and shooed the younger woman back out of her shop.

"That is what I thought. Shoo, and enjoy the snow!"

Ellie laughed and waved a good-bye as she all but waddled off through the reasonable layer of snow, her arms full of sweater and her mood soaring. Molly was such a character to know, really- she was still a little cultured and proper with her accent when she spoke, but there was just a friendly natured woman who loved to be part of the community beneath it all. Ellie would have to bake her cookies or something in return for the sweater and leave them on her doorstep so that she wouldn't be able to return them.

"Ah well." She hummed, rubbing her belly. "At least she's a friendly neighbor."


	48. Away from Home for the Holidays

_Each day is scholar of yesterday. _

_-Publilius Syrus_

-;-

"Robert, come sit down." Monica said softly, realizing that her husband was again in front of the window, looking over the snow covered backyard with an unreadable expression. The man turned, shoulders slumping, and crawled back into bed without putting up any fuss whatsoever.

Monica sighed softly, regretting that she couldn't do anything to help him get through the loss of his brother. He'd taken it much harder than she'd thought he would when she'd gotten the call from one of the soldiers that Robert worked with. And then when he'd actually arrived…it had damn near broken her heart to see him looking like that.

Alexis and Chase didn't know what to think about their father right now. But they tried their hardest to try to cheer him up. Just the other day, Monica had walked into the living room to find the twins snuggled up against their daddy, all three of them sleeping.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" she asked, running a hand over Rob's head in a soothing gesture that she usually only reserved for the twins when they had a nightmare. "You know I'll listen, honey."

"I know." He replied quietly. "I'm just trying to wrap my head around it."

"Alright."

It was obvious that there wouldn't be anything else she would get out of her husband now; she would try again later, perhaps.

-;-

Christmas dawned bright and early for the Epps' home in Italy; it was snowing heavily outside the windows as Ellie roused herself with as much cheer as she could muster and all but waddled down the hall to bang on Leon's door.

"Leon! It's Christmas!" she called, a wide grin on her features.

"_HOLY HELL! IT'S CHRISTMAS!" _Leon squealed from behind the door. A moment later, the sound of feet hitting the ground commenced, and Ellie moved down the hall to knock politely on her Nonna's door, shaking her head as she did so.

Twenty minutes later, the trio of women were clutching mugs of tea in their hands and were just sitting down when Ellie suddenly put her mug down and paused.

"Ellie? What's wrong?" Rosalina asked, worried for a moment that it had something to do with the baby. But the mocha skinned woman only shook her head and started for the door.

"I've got to do something. I'll be back in a couple minutes." She promised, grabbing her coat and slipping on her boots.

"Are you sure?" Leon asked, moving to stand. "Do you want me to come?"

"No. I'll be back soon. Don't worry." Ellie assured with a faint smile before she opened the door and slipped through, pulling it closed behind her with a small click.

-;-

Ellie carefully walked down the snow covered roads, her large jacket keeping her toasty warm, and enjoyed the silence as the snowflakes continued to fall around her. There wouldn't be anyone out and around today; not while there was family to spend the time with indoors.

It was quick work to get to the main street area, and then it only took another couple of minutes to hunt down the phone booth that occupied one of the street corners. She slipped into the dark blue booth, making sure that the door was securely closed behind her, before slipping the appropriate change into the slot and dialling the number that she had in mind.

"_Hey! You've reached Monica, Robert and the terror twins! Sorry we can't answer you now; we're probably out enjoying the Christmas season, but if you leave us a message we'll get back to you as soon as we can!" _

Ellie immediately felt her throat choke up as the voice of her aunt came on the answering machine, but she didn't care. It was one thing that she didn't have her dad to answer the phone anymore, but to have to listen to her aunt's voice announcing that they were still moving forward, it hurt. She missed her family. And not just her blood family, either; there was everyone at NEST that she'd become so close to in the months that she'd been there, and there were all the Autobots to consider, too.

And Fig.

One of her hands came up to rest on her stomach, gently rubbing through the fabric where their baby was growing.

It wasn't fair that he didn't know anything. That she wasn't as far away as he might think, and that she was pregnant with his child. That she was safe. Hanging up the phone, the mocha skinned woman leaned against the wall of the booth and tilted her head back, feeling the hot tears streaking down her face. It just wasn't fair that she was hormonal and away from the support that she wanted and needed more than she cared to admit, but at the same time, she was so very grateful for the support that she had right now.

Sniffing, she wiped her cheeks before exiting the booth and heading back up the road towards home.

-;-

The pod cracked easily under the pressure from his blades as he carefully extracted himself from the difficult position he currently found himself in. After landing on this slagging planet, he'd onlined to find himself not as close to stasis as he'd thought. Apparently his solar panelling had picked up on the waves given off by the sun in this solar system and had recharged his systems to a satisfactory state that would allow him to function for a longer period of time.

Already, he'd onlined his systems, and had connected to something called the internet to find some kind of language packet that he could download and integrate into his systems. If what the Prime had said was true, then he would need some way to communicate with the organic species that already lived on this planet. And while he was on that particular trail of thought, he supposed that he would also need a new alternate-mode in order to blend in. It had to be something low to the ground and fast; both necessary when Decepticons were involved in the equation.

Finally breaking through, he hauled himself to his pedes, unsure of what to think as they sunk slightly into the ground. A moment later, however, he decided that it didn't matter. There were more pressing concerns that he needed to deal with at the moment, such as repairing himself to the best of his ability with the remnants of the pod so that he didn't offline himself while trying to find the Prime. Unfortunately, he couldn't repair his communications systems, which had been thrown out of the loop by entering this atmosphere, and would need to seek out a medic to help him recalibrate them to the standards that he would be operational.

Growling something highly unpleasant in the language that he had downloaded, the mech got to work in disassembling the pod, sub-spacing the parts that he could use later.

-;-

"_WHERE ARE THOSE SLAGGING TWINS!? I'LL MELT THEM DOWN AND USE THEM FOR SPARE PARTS!" _Ratchet roared, storming out of his Med Bay with a wrench in each servo. _"I'LL DISASSEMBLE THEM FROM THE PEDE UP!"_

Of course, that being the first thing that the soldiers heard on Christmas morning, it was needless to say that it was going to be an entertaining day if nothing else. Of course, what the irate CMO didn't know was that it wasn't Sunstreaker or Sideswipe who had painted his Med Bay a lovely shade of holly green; it had been Jazz. But he didn't need to know that just yet. There was also the small matter of Jazz having an alibi; he'd been out and about on the island with Prowl and the femmes, playing a game of tag. So it couldn't have possibly been him.

Mind, the newly arrived First Aid was concerned about this kind of behavior, considering that he didn't quite know what to make of it. Sure, he knew that the frontliner twins played pranks, but he had no idea that they would go so far as to actually brave the lair of the spark eater and paint it while they were in recharge.

Ratchet was on the warpath, and it seemed that nobot would be able to prevent him with actually carrying out with his threat this time. Poor Wheeljack, who had arrived in the same small pod as First Aid, was unlucky enough to be walking down one of the halls towards the recreation room as Ratchet went by, and had immediately disappeared. No doubt back down towards his own quarters, but that wouldn't be confirmed until the weekly explosion occurred.

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were in the recreation room enjoying a cube of energon when they first heard the mech roar, and were now on the run, transforming in mid-leap in a prayer that they would make it outdoors before they were found. They had no idea what they'd done this time, but at this point, it was safer to make a run for it and then try and figure out what they'd done when their sparks weren't in danger of being extinguished by the CMO.

Will and Fig were in the cafeteria enjoying cups of steaming coffee as the dual streaks of silver and gold raced by, closely followed by a flash of neon green, and they couldn't help but laugh at the panicked sounding pleading that they heard coming from them as the sirens on Ratchet's alt-mode wailed. It was just one of those sights that they would never tire of seeing, really. Sure, there would be those times when the humans were the targets of their antics, but they were easily put back into place by Ironhide or Optimus. Will had been seriously amused when one of their pranks that they'd pulled involved him, because Ironhide, being the mother hen that he secretly was, flipped and sent them to the Med Bay with several new dents and bubbled paint from his cannons.

Eliza, Marcus and Lex were on their way down to the cafeteria themselves when they dodged the trio of chaos, Lex sniggering at Sunstreaker and Sideswipe's plight.

"Jesus. You'd think those two would've learned by now not to piss off the medic." Eliza commented, turning to stare in the direction that they'd taken off into.

"Weeelllll…maybe it wasn't actually them who did it this time." Lex smirked, whistling a cheery tune to herself and skipping off down the hall. "I'm not claiming anything~!"

"She totally helped Jazz do it." Marcus deadpanned.

"What? How do you know?" Eliza blinked, looking to her SIC in slight puzzlement. The male shrugged in reply.

"Well, if it's not those two pushing their luck, it's Jazz. And considering that Jazz was out last night, logic says that he had help pulling it off. Plus, Lex loves pissing off as many people in as little time as possible. Therefore, there's going to be three 'bots ticked off, plus Optimus and Will when they find out." He said, almost like he was conversing about the weather.

"Huh."

"Mhm. C'mon, I want to get coffee before everyone those three woke up come to get it." Marcus yawned, grabbing Eliza's shoulder and half dragging her along.

"Yeah. Some Christmas so far, huh?" she snickered.

-;-

"Thanks again, Nonna." Ellie hummed, flipping through the journal that she'd been given by her grandmother in order to mark down whatever she wanted for her pregnancy. Leon had been given a matching set, and the mocha skinned woman was already jotting down the first entry as the three women basked in the afterglow of shredding wrapping paper. Leon was currently wearing the new sweater that Ellie had given her, and looked quite content that it fit comfortably over her large stomach.

Rosalina was flipping through the photo album that Leon and Ellie had both worked on while they'd been in Italy, getting photos from their cameras and several others to make a sort of timeline for the elder woman. Mind, even with all of their hard work, over half of the album was still left unfilled; but then again, there was still plenty of time to fill the remainder of the album.

"You're most welcome, _amore mio_. Leon, I see you're enjoying your sweater." Rosalina replied, sipping from her mug of tea and smiling affectionately.

"Mmmm…it's really comfy." The brunette agreed, huddling down further in her chair and petting her shoulders with her hands. "Thanks Ellie."

"You're welcome." The mocha skinned woman replied, fixing her hair so that it wasn't hanging in her face and standing. "Anyone want anything while I'm up?"

"Something to fix the cankles I'm getting." Leon supplied promptly.

"Sorry, can't do that. Anything else?" Ellie rolled her eyes, grabbing her empty mug and setting her journal aside. "I think we've got some cookies in the fridge."

"Please." Leon moaned longingly.

"If you don't mind, _amore mio_." Rosalina added with a fond shake of her head. "Also, could you please get the meat out of the fridge? It needs to thaw for a couple more hours."

"Sure thing, Nonna." Ellie replied, mock saluting as she left the room and headed for the kitchen.

It had been smooth sailing since her mild breakdown a couple of hours before, and neither her grandmother nor Leon knew what had transpired. And to be perfectly honest, Ellie wasn't really in the mood to tell them. She had a right to her privacy, and both of the other women knew enough by now to tell that it had been something to do with her father and/or her uncle that had caused her to leave in the first place.

Sighing comfortably, Ellie put her empty mug next to the sink before moving to the fridge and grabbing the meat that her grandmother wanted her to put on the counter before grabbing the plate of cookies out. She had no real want to do much else for the rest of the day, and damnit, it was Christmas. She and her grandmother and Leon could and would do whatever the hell they wanted. It wasn't like they had any responsibilities to take care of until dinner, anyway.

"Merry Christmas, Daddy." She whispered before grabbing the cookies and heading back into the living room to join her family.


End file.
